Assistant teaching
by notcreativeenoughtomakeone
Summary: To help the year go smoother Negi is given an assistant teacher. Much like everyone at Mahora, he has his own secrets and a past that he can't let go of. When the nightmares return to him he is given a chance to redeem his past and finally let it rest.
1. Arrival

_**This isn't my first fic, but it is my first Negima fic. I recently watched the anime in it's entirety, and read the manga but I don't really have the entire thing down, so if I mess up with events in the past or what not, let me know. **_

Getting off the train, Charlie had never felt more out of place or perverted in his entire life. Stepping onto the grounds of an all girl campus will do that to you. Over his shoulder was a backpack, gripped in his hand was the handle to his suitcase that he was wheeling behind him. A group of girls ran by him and looked at him with smiles. He figured it was probably because he was the only guy they had seen in a while, plus he didn't look half bad himself.

Charlie was five foot five. Average for a sixteen year old. His black hair was straight and hung over his face like a wet rag. Average in weight, weighing in at one hundred and forty pounds he had some build to him but you'd have to focus to find where. His eyes were covered by his hair, so at the moment his eye color wasn't possible to discover.

Stopping he looked around and sighed.

" This place is huge," he said, not having taken fifty steps and had already managed to not know where he was. Looking around he saw no one. Everyone was somewhere else. He just needed to know where the principles office was.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw two people. Both were carrying a stack of books that looked like they would topple over any second. The two were talking as they walked. Both had similar hair color, one with two large braids cutting the hair around her back in half, the other with much shorter hair she used to cover her eyes in a fashion similar to his own.

Charlie rolled his suitcase over to them, and the long haired one caught him out of the corner of her eye.

" Nodoka, don't turn around," she said to her friend. Out of curiosity, Nodoka turned to her side because even if she turned around she wouldn't be able to see him. Like her friend said, she shouldn't have turned around because she started to shake some, then the top four books fell off, and in an attempt to regain balance she side stepped but only managed to fall with the books.

Charlie reached out a hand to help her up, but she looked at it scared and picked up her books, and walked away. Charlie looked at his hand, seemed clean. It made him wonder why she ran off.

" She scared of men. What do you want?" She said to him.

" Just to know where the principle's office is?" Charlie answered. She lifted an eyebrow at him curiously.

" This is an all girls academy hope you know," She said. " Sure you're in the right place?"

" Mahora academy right?" he asked, making sure he wasn't a complete idiot.

" Yeah."

" Then I'm in the right place. Where's the office?" Charlie asked again. The girl looked back at her friend who was almost out of view.

" See the clock tower?" She asked. Charlie turned around and saw it. He nodded. " Go there." She said, then walked away.

------------

Charlie managed to find the office within the next hour, only half an hour late for his meeting with Principle Konoe. Opening the door to his office he stepped in, suitcase following.

" Charlie, how was your trip from England?" Konoe asked Charlie when he was standing in front of him.

" Got here in one piece. So, where do I live for however long I'm staying here?" Charlie asked, getting straight to details on the living situation.

" I've arrange for you to live bunk with a few of the students until that can be dealt with. They have already been informed your coming. Good girls, little rough around the edges though."

" What're their names?"

" Nodoka Miyazaki, Yue Ayase, and Haruna Saotome. Two of them score high on tests, the other doesn't even study."

" Where's the room so I can get my stuff dropped off before class starts?" Charlie asked. Charlie was shown to the room by someone, and when he arrived at the door knocked and received no answer.

" Hello?" Charlie asked aloud. " Anyone home?" Gripping his hand around the door knob he turned it to see it was open. Walking into the room he looked around.

" This dorm is bigger than my apartment," he said then placed his stuff against the side of the room. Checking his watch he saw class started in about an hour, so he had time to kill. Looking around the room again he looked at the bookshelf and found a book he thought was interesting, sat on the couch and began to read it.

-----------------

Nodoka and Yue were coming to their room to get their books ready for class after the library was organized.

" Nodoka, since Negi came around, I figured you'd at least be able to look at a guy without freaking out," Yue said to her as they rounded the corner and entered their hall.

" Well, you know, professor Negi is different," she said then took out her key, only to push the door open when she put her hand against it.

" Again?" Nodoka asked her friend, because she left the door unlocked again. Yue shrugged and waited for Nodoka to step in first. She let out a small scream and ran away from the door and hid behind Yue.

" Your acting like there's a guy in our room," Yue said then looking in. " What do you know."

Charlie lifted his eyes up as Yue walked in with Nodoka hiding behind her. " Okay, what are you doing in here?"

" Don't you know?" Charlie asked. Yue shook her head. Footsteps were heard at the door and everyone turned their head to see a girl with long hair and glasses at the door.

" He's here," She said aloud then walked in. " Sorry Nodoka, kinda forgot to tell you. He'll be staying here for a little while."

" What?" Nodoka asked a little scared just by the thought.

" It was the principle's idea not mine," she said then walked in between the three.

" Haruna, you know Nodoka can't handle this," Yue said to her. Haruna sighed then looked at her.

" She'll manage," Haruna said then walked into the dorms kitchen and opened their fridge, and stole one of Yue's juice boxes.

" Hey," Yue said when she saw Haruna stab the straw into the box and start drinking it down. " Those are mine."

" I'm going to class early," Nodoka said then walked out of the room, and when she was out of site, ran.

" Androphobia?" Charlie asked.

" Huh?"

" Fear of men," Charlie answered. Yue nodded. " Reason why?"

" Unsolved mystery. I better go after her, she kinda forgot her stuff. So, what are you doing here. Is this some crazy publicity stunt with a male student?"

" No. I'll be assistant teaching," he answered then returned the book to the shelf. He was waiting for a reply that involved him being too young, and was surprised when he didn't get one.

" What room?" She asked.

" Three-A."


	2. Day one

The bell rang and the girls in three-A took their seats as Negi kept writing notes on the board. It was already a few months into the school year, so everyone was pretty adjusted to waking up. Enjoying it was another thing. Reading off the notes he wrote on a sheet of paper he chalked them onto the board.

When he was done he placed the chalk on his desk, then stood in the front of the class.

" Today we have notes on poetry. Consonance, assonance, and alliteration is something we'll be seeing for this entire unit. What is Consonance?" he asked aloud. He wrote the word on the board, not the definition.

Everyone kept their hands down, the older twin passing a note to the younger one who then shot a spit ball at the back of Asuna's head.

" Hey!" Asuna shouted, because she already knew they were the only ones who would do that to her.

" Asuna, what is consonance, because you seem so eager to answer." Asuna growled and looked in her book.

" Consonance, consonance, consonance," she said looking for it. " I don't know."

" Anyone mind helping her?" Negi asked the class.

" Consonance, the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in a line a poetry," A voice said from the sliding door in the back. Everyone turned their chair around and was looking at Charlie. Nodoka turned back around to the front after seeing him.

" Not him again," Nodoka said silently.

" Charlie?" Negi asked. Charlie walked across the room and stopped in front of Negi.

" What's up. How's teaching?" He asked.

" Fine I guess, what're you doing here?" Negi asked.

" Your sister sent me. She heard you needed some help with this gig, so I'm here to be your assistant teacher for the rest of the year," Charlie said to him. Negi looked at him puzzled. No one told him about this. Non the less, he needed the help.

Charlie handed him a sheet of paper. Negi opened it and read.

' _Dear Negi,_

_I heard you were having some trouble with teaching. I really think you're good at it, but non the less your age makes it somewhat hard for your students to respect you as a teacher rather than a cute boy. So, I asked Charlie to fly over to help you. Like you, he graduated early and also is a substitute teacher here in Wales while you were away. _

_Stay out of trouble, behave, and write as soon as you can. How's that Nodoka girl you told me about in the last letter, is she still afraid of men. To be honest Negi, if it weren't for the teacher student relationship, I would actually think you'd two would make a good couple. But that's just me. Write back soon. _

_Love, your Sister.'_

Negi closed the letter then looked at Charlie.

" I've already arrange everything. I just help out where I can. Two teachers should work a little easier, and because I'm only an assistant teacher, it doesn't interrupt with your training," Charlie said to him. Charlie was also a mage, but didn't bother going for master magi.

" Okay," Negi said to Charlie then looked at the class. " This is Charlie Nathan. He's a friend of mine from Wales, and also is a teacher. He'll be with us for the rest of the year as my assistant teacher."

" And, I.." Negi continued but Charlie broke in.

" Allow me. I expect you to show me the same respect you show him," Charlie said then pointed at Negi.

" Close to none," Evangeline said from the back of the room.

" Pipe down blondie," Charlie said to her. Eva eyes widened in anger, as she muttered a spell under her breathe. The tile in the ceiling above Charlie was coming loose and was going to fall on him. It started to, before it went back up, and created a small wave that made it's way across the ceiling and above Eva, then the tile above her fell and hit her directly in the head.

Everyone looked in the back wanting to know what that sound was. Eva placed her hand on her desk then pulled herself off the ground with white dust in her hair from the tile. Everyone laughed as she rubbed her head and sat back down.

Charlie winked at her and Eva clinched a fist. " He could be a problem," Eva said to herself.

" Now, as I was trying to say before the roof caved in, I expect some respect for being a teacher, but I know I won't get it so lets just get pass that. I'm from Wales like the professor here."

" Why don't you have an English accent?" Makie asked aloud.

" Just because I'm from england, doesn't mean I'm English. I was raised in America, but I moved to Wales when I was ten. By age twelve I had graduated college with a Bachelors degree in education."

" Where in America?" One of the twins asked.

" Does it matter?" Charlie asked. The twins nodded.

" Near Chicago," he said then looked back at the notes. " That's enough questions about me, Negi, you may continue class."

* * *

The final bell rang and everyone in the class left to do their clubs or get a start on homework. Negi was in the middle of grading a quiz with Charlie balancing a meter stick on his index and middle fingers.

" Not bad for a first day huh?" Charlie said to Negi while stepping to the right to keep the stick balanced.

" Actually, no. You can't talk to students in such a disrespectful," Negi said to him. Charlie lost his balance and the stick hit him in the face.

" What do you mean?"

" I mean, you can't tell a student to 'shut up'," Negi answered.

" I said pipe down."

" Is that really any less rude?" Negi asked. Charlie chuckled and started to balance the stick on his nose. " This is serious!"

" Like you and Nodoka?" He asked. Negi was marking a paper and that comment made him slip and make a red line down the entire sheet.

" She's my student. Sure she kissed me, but I didn't kiss her back."

" If she had given you enough time would you have?" Charlie asked with the stick still on his nose.

" Of course not!" Negi said back a little too hasty.

" Sure buddy," Charlie said sarcastically. Negi sighed then placed his head on his desk. " Your in way over your head."

" Just go, I'll see you later," Negi said with his voice muffled.

" Whatever," Charlie said then left the room. He looked down the hall and saw Nodoka for a second before she rounded the corner. On the ground were two tickets for a movie. Charlie looked down the hall again then at the tickets then back at the room door.

" Was she...did...are these...oh shit."


	3. Shopping and a movie

Charlie rounded the corner in a small rush to see Nodoka leaving her room and then seeing him when she tried to run one way. She froze for a second, took a step back then ran the other way.

" Nodoka," Charlie said to her and started to move after her.

" Don't bother," Yue said from behind him.

" But..."

" I said, don't bother. Just give her a little time to relax, I'll talk to her later," Yue said then walked to her door and unlocked it. Walking in the room she threw her backpack on the couch and went to the fridge. Taking out a juice box she closed the fridge then walked back to the couch and sat down.

Grabbing her headphones she placed them on her head and began to read a book that had nothing to do with education.

" Don't you have homework?" Charlie said, pretty sure because he was the one who issued it out.

" Yep," Yue said without looking at him.

" Are you going to do it?" Charlie asked.

" Nope," Yue said then turned a page in her book. Charlie sighed then sat on the couch next to her.

" Do you think I need to be a little more polite?" Charlie asked. Yue lifted her eyes to his then looked back at her book.

" Not really. That thing you said to Eva just made me laugh," she said then tried to find where she left off before she glanced away. " But to be honest, if you plan on taking this job seriously you need to do something."

" Like what?" Charlie asked.

" Do you have any dress clothes, pants not jeans, dress shirts, not band shirts."

" Not that I know," Charlie said. Yue shook her head. She closed her book then stood up, juice box in hand then pulled the headphones out of her ears.

" I can't believe I'm doing this. Come on, we're going shopping."

---

Charlie was in the clothes store about ten minute later with Yue who was helping him decide what to get that made him look more professional. Yue stopped in front of a manikin wearing a suit.

" You could get this," Yue said to him. Charlie looked at the manikin then shook his head.

" Hell no. I won't wear a suit at my own wedding," Charlie said then began to look through black pants and found a few in his size.

" Negi wears a suit," Yue said to him.

" Negi's a kiss ass," Charlie said to him. Yue rolled her eyes then stepped away from the manikin then toward Charlie. " He's eleven, and he's already wearing a monkey suit."

" What was Nodoka in such a hurry for?" Yue asked him.

" Beats me, but it has something to do with Negi, her, and these," Charlie said handing her the tickets then continued to look for pants of a different color to have some variety.

" This is bold, especially for Nodoka. Dark movie theater during a chick flick," Yue said then looked up at Charlie from the tickets. " Why did she give them to you?"

" She didn't. She over heard Negi and I talking, got nervous and ran away, leaving them behind," Charlie said then nodded at blue and black dress shirts.

" What were you two talking about?"

" I asked Negi what was going on between him and Nodoka, and he said he wouldn't have kissed her back if she had given him enough time. And that he finds her as a student, and only as a student."

Yue shook her head then looked at the tickets. " We should give them back to her," Charlie said to Yue holding several clothing articles in his hands.

" Even if she'll take them back, she won't ask Negi to go. She's too scared now. And since the movie is at seven tonight, it wouldn't matter," Yue said then handed them back to Charlie. " Just sell them to Asuna or someone who wants an excuse to go out with someone."

" Asuna?" Charlie asked.

" Never mind, just take them." Charlie grabbed the tickets, then looked at Yue. He smiled slightly and Yue blinked in curiosity.

" What?" Charlie looked down at the tickets then back at her and smiled again. " Oh no, I took you shopping, that's enough for one day."

" Your acting like it's a date."

" It kinda of is. Dark theater, chick flick."

" Well, seven is in an hour, and I wouldn't be able to sell them by then, wouldn't want them to go to waste."

" No, I'm not going."

---

" I can't believe I'm here," Yue said in the dark of the theater an hour later. The credits started to role after the characters made up in the movie and began to make out. Every couple and the weird one left their seats and outside into the street.

" That wasn't so bad," Charlie said to her as they walked back to the dorms. Yue wanted to ask him some questions, and it had taken her this long to get it into words.

" Was Negi always so, serious, wasn't he ever, a kid?" Yue asked.

" Of course. He started to change when he left school after graduating college and everything. Plus he never really had a normal childhood," Charlie said to him.

" Well, his father was the thousand master. Ever met him?"

" Once, actually. He's the one who convinced my parents to let me start...wait you know?" Charlie asked because she shouldn't know about magic.

" Yeah. I caught Negi once and now he teaches Nodoka and I magic. Check this out," Yue said then took out an item from her pocket. It was a card.

" That's a pactio card, you and Negi...what the hell don't I know."

" That almost the entire class knows. Some of them are oblivious like Makie, but some of us know. Myself, Asuna, Eva, Nodoka, Setsuna, Konoka, a few others. We all have pactio cards." Charlie took a deep breath.

" What the hell has he been doing. I can understand one of you finding out, but that many is almost ridicules."

" Are you a mage?"

" Yes. I can do enough. What can you do?"

" Mostly lightning. Nodoka has a book that can read people's thoughts. Sometimes she reads her own, and it's pretty funny what's she's thinking."

" Like frenching Negi."

" Every now and then yes," Yue said then placed her pactio card back into her pocket.

" Do you have a pactio partner?" She asked. Charlie stopped then looked at the ground.

" I did," Charlie said then started to move. Yue stopped and watched his back as he moved away. She didn't know what to say. After a few seconds she snapped back and ran after him.


	4. No Touchy

The next morning Yue opened her eyes on the top bunk above Nodoka. Yawning once she lay up and looked around the room. The room was quiet. Looking at the clock next to her she saw it was about five in morning. Normally she wouldn't wake up so early, but something had woken her up today.

Looking at the couch, she saw Charlie was already gone. A moment later she heard a door shut from next door, and knew Asuna was up and about to deliver newspapers. Grabbing the edge and looking down, she saw Nodoka hugging her pillow facing the wall in deep sleep.

Last night Yue tried to talk to Nodoka about what happened yesterday afternoon. Nodoka hadn't stuck around long enough to hear Negi's reaction. To hear that he didn't mean what he was saying, but was just trying to sound professional. Yue knew Negi had to have some feelings for Nodoka, but Nodoka was too busy worrying to ever really notice her feelings for him were wanting to be returned.

Swinging herself back onto her bed she looked at her clock, she knew it would go off in half an hour. But she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. To many things were on her mind. Pulling the blanket off her she climbed off the top bunk and got dressed. For some reason, she wanted to know what Charlie was doing up so early.

* * *

Walking through the deserted grounds of Mahora academy Yue looked around for any sign of Charlie. As she walked, she came to realize that hoping to find him in a place this large was child's play. Pulling her jacket closer to her, she took a breath and watched it hang in the air like a cloud before dispersing.

" Why is so cold?" Yue asked herself.

After she had been out for nearly an hour she sat on a bench just to rest a little. Looking to her left she saw Asuna walking towards her with nothing on her shoulders. Apparently she had finished her route. When she walked by they made eye contact and Asuna stopped.

" What are you doing up. Library or something?" Asuna asked, thinking that would be the only reason she was up.

" Just wanted to take a walk," Yue answered, " Have you seen Charlie?"

" Negi's assistant?" Asuna asked. Yue nodded. " Actually, I have. When I was leaving I saw him entering the woods. Not sure why."

" Thanks," Yue said, then began to jog towards the woods. Asuna watched her leave then turned around and began to run back to the dorms.

* * *

Yue entered the woods from the main path five minutes later. She listened carefully for any moment. The woods in the morning were a little eerie. A thin layer of mist was around her, and the ground was wet from the morning dew. Like the school grounds, the woods were quiet, except for the sound of nature.

Suddenly she heard someone talking. Following the voice she came to a forest clearing and saw Charlie standing twenty feet in front of her. He was shirtless and was wearing faded blue jeans. His feet were bare, and he seemed to have been chanting.

A moment later he stopped chanting and a copy of himself appeared in front of him. His fists began to glow light blue and he began to fight the copy.

" Training?" Yue asked herself, because that's what it seemed to be. Charlie had told her he was a mage, but this was still new to her.

Charlie's copy wasn't much of a challenge for himself. His copy was slower and weaker. Charlie chanted another spell and two more appeared. Fighting them all at once Yue looked around, sat on a tree stump and watched.

Charlie ducked under a punch then elbowed the copy that threw it. Catching another's fist's he twisted his arm behind its and then kicked it at another copy. Another charged from behind but Charlie jumped in the air and spun, round housing it in the face. When he landed he was facing Yue and saw her for the first time.

" What the hell.." he managed to saw before a copy punched him in the face. They were all about to jump him before he put his hands in the air and shouted, " Time out!"

The copies nodded then fused back with him. Charlie rubbed his jaw then walked over to Yue. Yue was cold, holding her coat close to her, but Charlie seemed unaffected by the weather.

" It's like thirty degrees outside," Yue said to him, " Are you nuts?"

" What're you doing here?" Charlie asked.

" Same question goes to you," Yue said then stood up off the tree stump. Charlie looked at the area he was training in. The grass was torn up, branches of the trees were bent and broken. Walking to a small tree where his shirt and shoes were hanging from he placed them back on then looked at his cell phone.

" Already six thirty," Charlie said then started to leave.

" Hey, get back here, and explain," Yue said to him. Charlie stopped then looked at her.

" Explain what? I was just training, that's it."

" Why don't you use that many spells? All Negi does is use spells," Yue said, not having of seen any other types of fighting.

" I don't know that many spells to be honest. The easiest spells are enhancement spells. Like to make me temporarily stronger, or faster. Those I know, so I use them. Unlike Negi, I can fight without magic, but with it, it just makes me stronger," Charlie explained.

" Can you fly? Negi can fly," Yue said to him. Charlie began to lift up off the ground, his clothes blowing as if a large gust of wind were on them. Even though the trees were standing still. He landed back down and smiled at her.

" What else can you do?"

* * *

At eight, a little before class started Charlie was in the bathroom with a pair of hair cutting scissors. His hair was still soaking wet from his bath. Which was something he hadn't taken in a long time.

" Someone should of told me a shower is hard to find around here," Charlie said while looking at himself in the mirror. A towel was around his waist held up by itself from part of it being tucked in.

" Can't be a teacher if they can't see my eyes," Charlie said then pulled the scissors down. Charlie looked at his hair and sighed, then let it fall into the sink. He snipped it, shorter, but not short. It wasn't in his eyes but it wasn't off his head either.

After ten minutes he started to snip the back of his hair letting it fall to the ground behind him. When he thought he was done he wet it hair again then shock the water out of it.

" Not bad."

* * *

The bell rang and everyone in 3-A sat down in their assigned seats. Negi took attendance. Everyone was there again. Standing up he began to write on the board again. Poetry, day two. Everyone copied the board as he wrote it down, then he faced the class with his book open.

" Yesterday we talked about the types of lines of poetry, today, we have types of poems. The first one in this unit we will discuss is called a Haiku. I would assume everyone knows what a Haiku is," Negi said, figuring since it was Japanese poetry and they were in Japan.

" It's a poem consisting of three lines. The first line with five syllables, the second seven, and the third five again," Nodoka answered.

" Very good. Now, a Haiku is usually based off nature. Would someone like the read the Haiku on page one eighty five?" No one raised their hand. Nodoka looked around the class then raised her hand because no one else would. " Go ahead Nodoka."

" 'The First cold shower, even the monkey seems to want, a little coat of straw.'"

" Thank you Nodoka. It may sound different than most poetry, but it is poetry. And it's your homework for tonight." Everyone moaned in annoyance. A moment later the back door slid open and everyone turned their head.

" Who's that guy?" Everyone asked each other.

" Wait, is that professor Nathan-I think so-what did he do to his hair?-What did he do to himself, he looks like a completely different person."

" Pardon me, what did I miss?" Charlie asked as he walked to the front of the room. Yesterday Charlie wore holey jeans, and a black shirt with the comment, ' I'm immature, unorganized, lazy and loud. BUT I'M FUN!' Today he was wearing jeans that were faded some with a greenish tint. A white dress shirt that wasn't buttoned all the way up showing his undershirt was a black shirt with a grey collar.

The cuffs of the shirt were unbuttoned and the sleeves where rolled up passed his elbows. His hair is what drove them off. Yesterday it was over his eyes and covering half of his face. Now it wasn't. It was cut half an inch above his eyes, but still messy and unkempt. His black hair was no longer covering his eyes, and now everyone could see they were green.

" Whoa," Yue said silently when she saw him.

" Did I miss the Haiku about the monkey?" Charlie asked. Negi nodded. " Makes no sense to me, but it's about a monkey so what's not to like."

Charlie walked passed Negi and took the book from his hands. Looking at where Negi left off he began to right on the board.

" Alright, a Haiku originated in Japan but when and where is still debated..." and class continued.

* * *

Charlie opened the door to the room with the key Haruna had copied for him. Shoving the key back into his pocket he unbuttoned his dress shirt then threw it onto the couch. Sitting on the couch he took a deep breath then looked around the room. His roommates were more or less at the library.

Looking at the shelves for something to read something caught his eye. It was a cover of a thin book that said ' Mahou Shoujo' on the cover. Opening it to the first page, he saw it was a manga. Taking it back to his couch he opened it up and started reading.

As he turned the third page the door opened and Yue walked in with her backpack over her shoulder. Throwing it to the ground she walked to the kitchen to get herself one of her juice boxes.

" Can you get me one of those?" Charlie asked without lifting his eyes.

" Alright, let's make some ground rules. The juice boxes are mine. The books are Nodoka's, and that is Haruna's," she said while pointing at the manga.

" So, no touchy?" Charlie asked.

" Yes," Yue said then moved his shirt and sat on the couch.

" Hey, no touchy," Charlie said to her.

" What?"

" The couch is mine. It's my bed for the meantime, so, it's mine. No touchy." Yue looked at him like he was crazy. " But, if you get me a juice box, I'll share."

" You're an ass," She said then got up off the couch and walked back into the kitchen.

" Thank you, I'd love one," Charlie said. A moment later he heard the fridge close and then the box hit him in the side of the face.

" Mmm, grape," Charlie said then stabbed the straw into the box. " Shouldn't you be at the library?"

" I had the tutoring session first. I have to go to that before I go to the library. I was just stopping by to drop off my bag and get a drink," she said then started towards the door.

" Did you start on the Haiku's yet. You need three by tomorrow."

" Doubt it." She said then closed the door.


	5. Anger rising

The next day if class started with everyone in the class passing up their haikus to the front of the classroom. Charlie walked by the front row and took everyone's haikus from the person in that seat. Looking through the list of haikus from Yue's row he didn't see her name.

" Yue, where are your haikus?" Charlie asked looking at her.

" Didn't do them," she answered without lifting her eyes from her book. Charlie sighed then finished collecting them.

Sitting at Negi's desk he began to grade the haikus while Negi taught the next part in the poetry lesson.

" Today we're working on more common forms of poetry. The most common form of poetry is a sonnet. Does anyone know a famous sonnet writer?" Negi asked the class. He received the sound of crickets.

" Shakespeare is famous for sonnets. Most of his great works were sonnets. Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, all sonnet based plays," Negi said to them. Again, crickets. " You have to at least know who Shakespeare is." Everyone nodded.

" We're not that stupid," Asuna said to him. Negi sighed then lowered his head.

" Can anyone name a comedy play by Shakespeare?" Natsumi raised her hand.

" A midsummer night's dream," she said aloud. " I'm in the theater, so I know plenty about Shakespeare."

" I would hope so," Negi said to her then looked at the board again. He wrote sonnet on the board then underlined it. " What is a sonnet?" Crickets again.

Nodoka raised her hand. Negi nodded at her. " A sonnet is a form of poetry where the rhyme scheme is three quatrains then a couplet," she answered.

" Very good," Negi said then wrote that on the board.

Charlie read the poem that Konoka wrote to himself then wrote the grade on it. Negi told him to grade each haiku worth five points. Giving the assignment fifteen possible points. " Twelve, because not enough syllables in this line," Charlie said then read the next one. It was from Ayaka.

Charlie almost laughed aloud. " Ayaka, a haikus is supposed to be about nature," Charlie said to her.

" So?" Ayaka asked.

" All three are about professor Springfield." Asuna laughed at her, and a few others sniggered. " Other than that their fine." He gave her a six for actually doing them.

" Okay, Makie?" Charlie asked aloud. Makie left her seat then stopped in front of the desk.

" An old pond-, the sound of a frog jumping, into water. Did you really think I wouldn't notice something like this?"

" What about it?" Makie asked a little scared because she was caught.

" Makie, this haiku is on page one eighty six in your text book," he wrote a zero over the entire paper then handed it too her. " Nice try though."

" This sucks," she said then crushed it into a ball and through it into the trash can. Charlie sighed then kept grading.

* * *

" Charlie, you've gotten better at this, " Negi said while going over his lesson plan. 

" How?" Charlie asked curiously.

" I mean, you were a little nicer today. You didn't tell anyone to shut up, plus you handled Sasaki-san perfectly professional," Negi said like he was proud of him. Which he was.

" Maybe this whole assistant teaching thing is just what I needed," Charlie said then sat on the couch in Asuna, Konoka, and Negi's room. " Your couch in better than mine."

" Why are you in that room anyway?" Negi asked. Charlie placed a fist against his right temple to think.

" Beats me. Headmaster said I'm there for a bit, so I kinda just moved right in."

" And raided Yue's juice box stash," Negi said to him.

" Take it she told you about that," Charlie said with a grin.

" She hasn't dropped it," Negi said to him. " She's been complaining about you."

" Complain all she wants, I don't care," he said then took out some of the haikus he still needed to grade. Negi looked over his plans.

Next week they continued notes on poetic terms. After that, they review for a test on Wednesday. On Thursday they take the test like planned and studied for. On Friday they start reading Julius Caesar and should finish that in two weeks about take a test and end the quarter that way. Everything seemed organized.

Negi closed his notebook then grabbed his staff and opened the door. Charlie lifted his eyes off the haikus and looked at Negi.

" Where are you going?" Charlie asked.

" Need to be somewhere," Negi said then closed the door.

Charlie left the room five minutes later, having finished the last of the haikus and left them in Negi's nook. Walking to the door next door he opened it and heard it hit someone on the other side.

" Sorry," He said to Yue who was rubbing her head. Nodoka was behind her, shaking a little. Charlie stepped out of the way and Yue walked by and left. Charlie looked at Nodoka and then started to walked toward the door. " Where you going."

" Just need to be somewhere," she said then left after Yue. Charlie walked in the room then threw his stuff on the couch. Sighing he took a juice box from Yue's stash then sat on the couch. Then he began to think. Why did Negi and Nodoka have the same response to the same question. Finishing the juice box he left, deciding he wanted to follow them.

* * *

The chase lead Charlie watching Yue and Nodoka enter a log house in the middle of no where somewhere on campus. They seemed to be up to something. Walking up the flight of stairs he looked through the open front door. 

" Hello?" He asked. " Anyone home?" he asked again. No reply. Stepping into the house he looked around. The living room was pretty disorganized. He stepped into the kitchen. The smell of tea was in the air. Stepping another room he froze.

Dolls were everywhere. Stacked to the ceiling, hanging off wires. All looking at him in a million different expressions. Charlie hated dolls, so this room was a little creepy.

" What is this, the twilight zone?" he asked then walked out. To his left was another flight of stairs that lead to the basement. Walking down he came to a room empty except for one thing. A large bottle with a model building in it.

" Weird," he said then started to walk away. Suddenly he felt his hair blow up off his face and light glow from under him. Looking down he saw a symbol then looked at the model.

" Oh, I get it," he said with a smile before he vanished.

* * *

Charlie was standing in sun light moments later. It was suddenly very warm instead of the cold of fall. All around him was endless ocean and in front of hm was a building. It was white brick with a large circular ring. It was almost like a giant spiral that coiled up. Where he was standing was attached to the building by a bridge so he crossed. 

Ahead of him he started to hear the noise of fighting. Evangeline was fighting him and winning, but Negi kept coming back her no matter how many times she knocked him back. They fired spells at each other every other second, and they were either blocked, or dodged. Eva kicked Negi back who landed on his back then bounced up and slid along his feet.

" Howdy," Charlie said. Negi lost his focus and Eva punched him in the face sending him up and over Charlie. Charlie grabbed his fist as he flew by then placed him on the ground.

Eva looked at Charlie and clinched her fist in anger. She was apparently still mad about the tile. She turned away as blue light began to glow in her palm. She spun around quickly and fired ice at Charlie, but he was already gone. Eva turned around to see Charlie hit the ground having jumped over her shot.

" You missed," he said then started to walk over to the building. Eva placed her arm up again and was going to try again before Negi stopped her.

" Don't, you might miss and hit someone else," Negi said, seeing that the others were in the way.

" I refuse you train you with him here. The others I allow because their your partners, but Charlie I won't allow."

" Why not?" Negi asked.

" I just don't like him. He's an imbecile," she said to him.

" Hey guys," Charlie said then sat at the table with the girls. Asuna, Yue, Nodoka, Setsuna, Konoka, and Kazumi were there sitting at a table watching him. Everyone looked at each other then back to him.

" Training I see, I won't get in the way," he said then walked away then sat against a pillar. Yue looked at Charlie and saw his face seemed to be in deep thought. " Wonder what he thinking," she said to herself then looked at Nodoka. " Oh, duh."

" Could you read his mind for me?" Yue asked Nodoka. She nodded, said Charlie's name and then handed the book to Charlie. Yue opened the first page and saw the picture.

It was the picture of a young girl. She seemed to be twelve years old, not quite a teenager yet. She had brown hair that was pulled out of her face, and black eyes. Her eyes were intense, and yet had a since of calm to them. Above her head was a name. Noelle. Then Nodoka read the text.

'_... I must live in regret for the actions I couldn't take. I was so weak back then, so weak I couldn't save you. It was foolish to think I was strong enough, or ready to fight her. There was so much more I could have done, but I did nothing. The day we fought her._

_' The demon girl in the blood red dress. Not a day goes by that I believe I should be where you are now, and you where I am. I blame myself because I got cocky. I underestimated her, and you payed the price. But I swear with every breath in me, till the day I roll over and die, she will be dead.'_

Yue closed the book then looked at Charlie. Not in a million years would she have guessed that someone who acted like Charlie had a past like he described. She hadn't known him for very long and she already knew he was putting on an act to distract himself. Now she knew he was actually miserable because of guilt.

" Your not going to finish?" Nodoka asked Yue, taking her book back.

" I feel like I need to hear it from him," Yue said. " I'll ask him later."


	6. Noelle

Charlie woke up in a wreck. Sweat was sliding off his forehead and dripping onto the couch. Rising up he looked around the room and saw the girls were still asleep, and that it was four thirty in the morning. Sliding his feet to the edge of the couch he placed them on the ground and watched the sweat drip to the floor.

Grabbing the first shirt he could, which was a black dress shirt he buttoned it on then left the dorm room. Yue opened her eyes when the door shut then looked to where Charlie was. Climbing off the top bunk she quickly got dressed in order to pursue him. She knew there was only one place he was going this early. The woods to train.

Following the trail she quickly came to the forest clearing she saw Charlie in the day prior. He was there again, shirtless like before this time just sitting there. He seemed to be doing something besides sitting and thinking. Yue walked over to him then sat five feet across from him.

" What do you want?" Charlie asked Yue like he knew it was her. Somehow he did even though he hadn't opened his eyes. Yue looked straight at him.

" I want to ask you a question. You said you had a partner, what happened to her?" Yue asked him. Charlie without any sign of pain answered.

" She died," he said blankly, then finally opened her eyes.

" Protecting you. She was your partner," Yue said to him.

" No, I wasn't the magi. She was," he said to her. Yue looked at him curiously.

" Noelle graduated western magic academy in Wales with me. She was the top of the class, I was second. Noelle and I were always rivals since I arrived in Wales after I lost my last home and had to move," Charlie said.

" What happened to your last home?" Yue asked.

" I was destroyed by demons. I lived in the same village Negi did. My family and I were some of the only survivors, and Nagi before he left and was never seen again, told my parents to take me to Wales to study Magic.

" I excelled in magic. Unknown to myself, I had the gift. When I first arrived in Wales, my parents died. That day, I found out they were wizards and were using their magic to prolong the petrification of the demon raid on my home. It caught up. Negi's sister helped me and that's how I know him."

" You said you grew up in America," Yue said to him, because so far that part wasn't fitting.

" I did. I was nine when the village was attacked, but I had only lived there for five months before it was attacked," Charlie said. Yue nodded to show she understood the facts.

" How did you meet Noelle?" She asked.

" Noelle at first was for lack of a better word, a bitch when I first met her. A complete control freak, over achiever, and just over all unpleasant to be around. But it took me time to realize she was only like that around me. She was nervous to tell me she liked me, so hid it with rudeness. When we graduated, that's when I saw her for who she was for the first time. I fell in love with her.

" We both had different tasks to complete our training. Mine was to teach myself how to conjure nonverbal spells. I still can't do it. Hers was to defeat a golem that was bothering people in the French mountains. She couldn't do it alone so she asked me to help her."

" That's why you made a pactio with her," Yue said, his story starting to come together. " Where does the girl appear. The demon?" Yue asked, wanting to know that next.

" Noelle and I faced the golem together. Now that we were partners, we were so much stronger. The golem was under someone's control. The demon girls. She wasn't pleased we defeated her pet..."

* * *

_**Three years earlier...**_

Charlie rammed the golem into the mountain side then kicked off him. While midair he chanted a spell then fired a bolt of lightning from his palm that hit the golem in the shoulder. The golem's arm broke off the crashed the ground. Charlie smiled then landed.

" This is a test?" Charlie asked. So far they were kicking his ass.

" I'll make master magi in no," Noelle said from behind him then started chant a spell. As she chanted it the ground beneath her began to quake. The golem's hand broke through under her and knocked her into the air.

" Noelle!" Charlie shouted the pulled an item out of his pocket. It was card. On the card featured a picture of him carrying an over sized axe over his shoulder. " Adeat!"

The card turned into a large axe. The handle was four feet long with a one foot blade on the end. It was razor sharp and could cut a hair in half vertically. Swinging the axe he hit the golem's hand that broke into dust under the force of the blade.

" That was close," Charlie said to Noelle before he was hit in the side by the golem's fist that oddly enough wasn't attached to its body. Noelle looked at the golem and discovered it could regenerate lost parts with the rock around it.

" Brilliant," she said to him as Charlie got off the ground rubbing his side. " We need to get him away from rock."

" I know. Golem's of his element don't like water," Charlie said to Noelle who nodded at him. At the same time they chanted the same spell and fired it at him. Water shot out from both of their palms and hit the golem center chest. When he was weak Charlie charged.

Charlie jumped into the air then swung down. The blade cut through the golem and broke him in half down the center. Noelle hit him with water again and the pieces that dissolved didn't come back. In less than a minute it was over.

" Let's go," Charlie said to Noelle. She nodded at him then they began to walk away before they heard clapping. They both turned around and saw someone floating in the air above them.

It was a girl. She looked like she was ten or eleven years old. She had long flowing blonde hair, penetrating green eyes, and was wearing a blood red dress. Slowly she hovered to the ground then landed ten feet away from them.

" You beat my golem. It was a major inconvenience to control him. And you up and kill him just like that," she said to them. " This will not go unpunished."

Charlie almost laughed. " Look little girl, go home. This isn't play time," Charlie said then took a few steps toward her.

" Foolish mortal. If you value your life you will hold your tongue or have it forcefully taken," she said to him in a threat.

" Whoa, calm down," Charlie said then was right next to her. He reached out a hand to lead her away before a powerful gust of wind knocked him into the air. While in the air she flew above him then kicked him to the ground. Noelle ran over to Charlie who was blind by rage.

" That's it," Charlie said then charged her. " Adeat!" His axe appeared in his hand. The girl stood perfectly still. Charlie cocked the axe back to swing. Their eyes locked for this confrontation. Ten feet, five feet, a foot. Charlie swung.

Noelle didn't see much. All she saw was the axe getting knocked into the air. Charlie was now hanging in the air by his throat. The girl was choking him with one hand. Noelle was frozen in choke to do anything. The axe hit the ground and turned into the card.

" You attack me, without knowing who I am. That's bold, or just stupid," the girl said to him, " Consider this, a warning."

The girl let him go and Charlie collapsed to the ground. Coughing he tried to breath as the girl landed next to him. With one kicked she sent him rolling across the ground. He rolled on his side, hit a large rocked and was knocked into the air. Landing on his neck his body was aching as he finally stopped moving.

The girl lifted up her dress to take a knife out from its case that was strapped to her left leg. After that she proceeded toward Noelle who couldn't move. Charlie pulled himself off the ground slightly then looked toward them.

" Noelle, run!" Charlie shouted at her. She snapped out of her trance like fear then started to run. Roots from the ground broke out and grabbed her arms and legs. She fought to get away but it was hopeless. Seconds later the girl stopped in front of Noelle.

" Your just another dumb child," she said to Noelle, then stabbed her in the chest with the knife. Noelle's eyes widened in shock and pain as her body went limp. The roots let her go and she collapsed to the ground. The girl turned and looked straight at Charlie.

" Just a warning. Never disrupt me again. Next, your life with be the forfeit," she said then vanished into the ground.

Charlie crawled over to Noelle to see she was still alive. Her breathing was stressed, she couldn't speak, and blood was everywhere.

" Come on, you can make it," Charlie said to her. Noelle smiled at him then held his hand. She closed her eyes, and died.

" No! Stay with me," Charlie said to her with a tear rolling down his face. " STAY WITH ME!"

* * *

" That's what happened," Charlie said to Yue who was sitting next to him listening.

" What happened, after that?" Yue asked. She wanted to know what got him here besides Negi's sister.

" I went back to the western magic council and told them what happened. I was suspended of my magic licence for a year for failing to protect my partner. While I waiting for my licence to be reinstated I earned my degree in teaching. If I couldn't make money in the magic community, I had to do it somehow. I became a teacher.

" Soon after that I got my licence back and lived the next two years as a part time substitute teacher and part time magic instructor at the magic academy. Then I got the memo of the stuff Negi had gotten himself into so was personally asked to help Negi. And that's why I'm here. "

Yue thought about everything. It seemed to fit together. Though she was wondering how he was so cheery after living the life he had. How he managed to stay so level headed though all of it. Then they heard foot steps.

Charlie and Yue turned their heads and saw Evangeline and Chachamaru walking toward them. Evangeline had a smile on her face like she wanted to hurt someone. Charlie stood up then faced her.

" What do you want blondie?" Charlie asked her. Eva smiled at him.

" Simple. You gone," Eva said to him. " You're a disgrace to wizards everywhere. You make magic seem like it's a joke. I don't want you disrupting me, or annoying me."

" Like I give a damn about your opinion," Charlie said to her. " Tell you what. A battle. I win, I stay. You win, I leave." Eva smiled.

" Challenge accepted," she said, then charged him.


	7. Pactio

Evangeline's feet weren't on the ground as she charged Charlie. To his shock was a lot faster than she looked. Her fist connected with the left side of Charlie's fist and Charlie flew back and crashed into a tree. Charlie slid down the tree and landed in the grass.

" Holy shit," Charlie said aloud. He wasn't expecting that. Picking himself up off the ground he dusted himself off. Evangeline cracked her neck and knuckles then stood ready with a smile.

" What's the matter, can't stand already?" Eva asked mockingly. Charlie vanished and reappeared behind he a blink of an eye later. In midair he cocked his leg back to strike. His foot connected with the curve of her back and sent her at the tree.

Charlie smiled as she flew because she had spoken too soon. Then it dropped when she whipped herself around and placed both heels on the trunk then launched off the tree fast than she was sent into to. A moment later her fist sunk into his stomach. Charlie felt the air leave his lungs forcefully.

They hung in the air for a second before Charlie registered what happened. Before his body had to the chance to fall she kicked him toward the ground. Charlie hit the ground chest first then rolled several times before stopping. Eva floated to her feet then laughed.

" Did you think I'd be a push over? Rule number one, never underestimate your enemy," she said then ran toward him. She moved her foot back then kicked him in the air like a soccer ball.

The kick bounced him into the air high enough for Eva to kick him before he hit the ground again. Charlie shot straight up and into the air above everyone.

" Stop it!" Yue shouted and tried to intervene but Eva snapped her fingers. Chachamaru grabbed Yue and didn't let her do anything.

Evangeline placed her hand in the air straight above her head. Her palm began to glow blue as she recited a spell. Yue knew what the spell was, and struggled against her restrainer more.

" That will kill him!" Yue shouted at her. Eva's lips curled into a smile.

" I know," she said to Yue then finished reciting the spell and fired it. A large sheet of ice fired out and straight for Charlie. As it traveled toward him it became a fine point. It was a giant ice stake that was going to impale him any second. Eva smiled when she guessed she had a direct hit.

At the last second Charlie acted. He twisted his body around and the kicked the ice that barely missed him. The stake spun in the air and Charlie placed his soles on top of the ice and began to ride it back to the ground. Right at Evangeline.

" Let's see if you got the balls kid," Eva said then stood her ground. The game of chicken was on. Eva was almost certain he'd chicken out first. And when he did that was the moment to strike.

Yue held her breath as Charlie rode down toward Eva fast. Eva locked eyes with Charlie who stared her back down. Charlie began to chant a spell as he fell and the gap between him and her got smaller. Moment later they were able to see the white of each others eyes. While she stared at him for a sign of fear, she didn't see it. Now they were five feet away.

" Son of a bitch," Eva said then jumped out of the way, taking her eyes off Charlie for the briefest second. The ice stake hit the ground and launched dirt and dust into the air. Eva looked up and saw Charlie above her with his hands straight over his hand, palm over palm and glowing. Electricity arched off his hands and noticed there wasn't a chance for her to dodge or stop this attack. Turned out she was wrong, he had the balls after all.

" Lightning shower!" Charlie shouted then thrust his palms at her. His hands stopped inches from her face, and Eva's eyes widened in shock. A giant bolt erupted from his palm and engulfed Eva. The lightning created a flash of light that was so bright Yue had to turn away and cover her eyes.

Charlie's bolt stopped five seconds after it was released. He fell to a knee from the energy it took to conjure a spell that powerful. Smoke from the bolt hitting the ground was thick, but starting to thin out seconds later. When it cleared a small crater was in the ground, but Eva was nowhere to be found. Charlie knew something was wrong.

" There's no way in hell that was strong enough to finish her," Charlie said then did a three sixty scan of the area. " Where is she?"

It was quiet for several second. Everyone waited from something to happen. The silence was broken by a dark circle appearing at Charlie's feet and Eva flying through it. As she went by she upper cutted him in the jaw and sent him into the air.

As he flew up Eva chased after him. Kicking him to the left he collided into a tree then bounced back. She kicked him to the right and he did the same. When he was back in front of her again she kicked him straight into the air then continued her assault.

Before he started to fall Eva grabbed his right ankle and began to spin him around in a circle. Charlie began to get dizzy by a dozen laps. Eva was laughing in mid spin. Then she released him.

Charlie flew straight for a tree and before he hit said a quick spell. The trunk of the tree was cut in half and Charlie flew through and hit the ground on the other side in a heap. Looking up he saw the tree falling and quickly rolled out of the way. A second later he would have been crushed.

After the danger of the tree was over Charlie looked up again. Eva kicked him in the face and sent him to the ground. He landed on his back and Eva slammed both of her heels into his stomach. Charlie lost his breath and tried to cough, but there wasn't even that much air left. Even coughing wasn't a task he could accomplish.

Eva said a spell then aimed her palm at Charlie. A freezing breeze hit Charlie's right arm and froze it in a block of ice. Her smile was a painful sight on it's own. Cold with no mercy.

Charlie knew he needed time to recover. He knew Evangeline wouldn't give it to him. Silently he whispered a spell. But Eva still heard him.

" What is that your muttering, what are you trying to say?" Eva asked.

" To achieve to heal from woe, a holy light to blind my foe!" Charlie shouted and a blinding white light appeared around him.

Evangeline didn't have time to react. The light hit her in the eyes and she wobbled from sudden blindness. It took her nearly ten seconds to get back even the slightest vision as she stood their helpless. When she got it back, Charlie was gone.

* * *

Charlie ran through the woods in a half run/wobble. His right weighed him down enough, but his body was in worse condition.

The elevation changed to a small hill and Charlie fell. He rolled down the hill then quickly got to his feet and hid behind the trunk of a large tree. It seemed a decent enough spot to recover and think.

" I can't win," Charlie said to himself. " She's too powerful."

" Not alone you can't," A familiar voice said to him. Charlie turned his head and was looking at Yue. " You need help."

" I can do it alone," he said then tried to get to his feet. He grunted in pain then slid down the trunk again.

" Face it, you need help. And right now I'm your only option," Yue said to him. She kneeled next to him then looked him in the eye, but he looked away.

" Just do it," she said to him. Charlie looked back at Yue then started to think. He really didn't have an option.

" Fine," he finally said, " Make it quick."

Yue nervously and slowly leaned closer to his face. Their lips got closer and when they were a inch apart the ground began to glow pink. Their lips meet and the pink began to glow brighter and brighter till it burst in all directions, a card falling between them.

Charlie's arm was no longer frozen. Every bump bruise and scrape he had from this fight was healed. Charlie got to his feet then looked at Yue. She smiled at him then nodded. Charlie stepped from around the tree then looked in the direction Eva was.

" Round two," he said then started to run.

* * *

Evangeline looked over her shoulder and saw a flash of pink light hit her eyes. She smiled then readied herself to whatever was coming her way. Looking into the trees she waited. Then she saw him.

Charlie was on a full out charge. He raced towards her as fast as he could. When he reached her he cocked back and swung. Eva moved her hand in front of the blow to block it, but it went straight through. An after image. Then she felt his fist on her back. Eva flew and hit a tree hard.

Eva slid down then got to her feet. Her smile gone she charged him. She punched forward and connected with his fist. They both cocked back again and connected fist to fist once more. Eva kicked with her right foot only to hit air and to feet a foot to the side of her head. Hitting the ground hard she rolled several times then bounced into the air then stopped.

" How did you get that much stronger in such a short amount of time. Was that light..a contract," she said, figuring it out.

" Yep, you should try it some time," he said to her.

" With who?" Evangeline asked.

" Me," Yue said from the trees holding up the card. " It's only a probationary contract, but still affective," she said to her.

" Contract or no contract, I'm still going to beat you. Let's see you handle this," she said then stood in a more comfortable position. She began to chant a spell.

" Hey, I know that one," Charlie said then started to conjure it too. They spoke in almost perfect unison and finished the spell at the same exact time. Then a moment later they both fired.

A blast of white light shot out from both of their hands and towards each other. The blasts hit each other and began to try to overpower the other. At first, Eva was winning, more breathing room for her than Charlie, but he pushed it back at her. Eva pushed harder, and began to advance again.

After nearly a minute of strain Charlie dropped to a knee and his blast began to get weaker, Eva's inching its way towards him. He pushed it forward again, but Eva held her ground. The ground beneath the conversion began to crumble and erode from the sheer power of the spell.

Another minute passed and Charlie was on his last bit of energy. He couldn't hold this for much longer. Eva smiled at this because it meant victory was close at hand. Soon Charlie would be packing his bags. Then she was hit by a bolt of lightning. The hit caused her blast to drop power dramatically and lower her guard.

" Do it now!" Yue shouted at him. Charlie got to his feet and used everything he had left in his last stand. He fired what he had left and his blast over took Eva's. Eva couldn't get out of the way or stop it, so placed her hands in front of her face.

Everyone held their breath waiting for the smoke to clear. A small stream of smoke spewed off Charlie's palm as he stood there breathing deep, sweat beating off his forehead. Eva appeared in the smoke in the same position she was in. Smoke fell off her body as she opened her eyes and knew this was over. Charlie had no energy left. Then Charlie started to laugh.

" What the hell is so funny?" Eva asked him. Charlie kept laughing then shook his head.

" Nice," he said, " Figured you'd have a tan though," he said to her sarcastically. Eva looked down and almost screamed. The blast had blown her clothes off. She covered her breasts with her arms then glared at Charlie for laughing. Then he wobbled forward and back.

" I..." Charlie began then fell to both knees, " Win." Charlie passed out then fell face first into the grass.


	8. After school teaching

Charlie opened his eyes slowly and was looking at the ceiling. The lights above his head made him squint then shield his eyes with his hands. Sitting up in the bed he tried to think of why he was here. Then he decided to find out where here was.

The school infirmary it looked like. It had to be. Several beds, doctor tools, and of course the sickening spell. Looking around he saw his bed was the only occupied. The room was quiet and he was alone.

" Why am I here?" Charlie asked himself. It took him several minutes before he remembered. " Eva."

The door of the infirmary opened and Charlie turned his head. Negi walked in followed by Yue. They both stopped when they saw him. Apparently surprised he was actually awake.

" You're up," Yue said to him first then walked pass Negi. " Had us worried."

" How long was I out for?" Charlie asked.

" Three days," Negi answered then walked to him. " You over worked your mind and put yourself into a coma."

Charlie leaned back against his pillow and smiled. " Cool."

" Not cool. You nearly died. And if Konoka hadn't shown up you'd be dead," Yue said to him like she thought he was an idiot. Which she did.

" Konoka...Konoka," Charlie said, trying to match a face with the name. " I'll meet her later," he finally said, giving up on trying to guess her name.

" How do you feel?" Negi asked. Charlie stood up off the bed then stretched.

" Like you said, my mind was injured, not my body. Just needed a little sleep," Charlie said then sat on the bed.

" What about Evangeline. She won so don't you have to leave?" Yue asked. Negi hadn't heard that part.

" I won didn't I," Charlie asked.

" No. Eva never declared a loss. And since you passed out she won by default," Yue said to him.

" Wait, what was the deal?" Negi asked, not having much info of why Charlie and Eva fought.

" If I won, I stay and Eva left me alone. If she won I leave. Well, guess I better come through."

The door to the infirmary opened again and Eva stepped though. Chachamaru followed close behind. Slowly the door closed again and everyone faced her. For some reason she was smiling.

" I'll start packing later," Charlie said then started to walk towards the door.

" Who ever said I wanted you to leave?" Eva asked. Charlie turned around and looked her.

" Uh, you did," Charlie answered.

" Well, I changed my mind," she said then looked him in the eye, " You may act like an idiot but your knowledge and capabilities in magic and combat was admirable. You were a fun fight even if I kicked your ass."

" You didn't kick my ass okay," Charlie said then sat on a bed, " And besides, my fighting style isn't my own."

" I know, you fight like the thousand master," Eva said with a smile.

" He does?" Negi asked. Whenever his father was mentioned it made him listen more.

" Yes, not nearly as strong but the technique was similar. More head on fighting than using spells from a distance."

" I saw him fight once. The day the demons attacked out village. When I discovered I could use magic, I made it my goal to master both magical and physical arts," Charlie said to them, " Though I'm stronger physically."

" Where did you learn your martial arts?" Negi asked him.

" I taught myself most of it. But a large amount of it I learned from Noelle before she died," Charlie answered, " So you don't mind me staying?"

" Not as much as I did," Eva said to him. " So leave if you want or stick around if you prefer." When she was finished she started to walk towards the door.

" How about a rematch sometime?" Charlie asked. A small smirk appeared on Eva's face when she looked at him.

" Maybe later. I will only fight if someone is a challenge or if I want to kill that person. Since I no longer wish to kill you, it'll be a long time till we ever fight again, "Eva answered then left the room.

* * *

The next day after class Charlie walked down his hall while taking off his black dress shirt. He had been here for only six days, and had managed to be asleep for half of it. Negi had told him he improved as a teacher, even after only one day.

Opening his door with the key he closed it behind him. Throwing his shirt on the couch he took off the under shirt then replaced it with another. Changing out of his pants then into jeans, he was going to do some exploring today. He'd been here for nearly a week and he hadn't seen much. So now seemed as good a time as any. Charlie was going to do this over the weekend, but he slept through the entire thing.

Charlie locked his door then turned to walked down the hall. Colliding into Negi he watched Negi wobbled back, then right himself before falling. In his hand was his work planner he always carried.

" What're you up to this time?" Charlie asked, looking at the planner.

" After school teaching," he said then started to walk to the class.

" Wait, you teach, train, teach, train, train teach, have some lunch and do it all over again?"

" Basically, I really don't have an option," Negi said then started to walk. Charlie ran in front of Negi then grabbed the planner.

" Go take a nap or something, I got this," Charlie said then opened the planner.

" You sure?" Negi asked because he didn't want to be a burden.

" Do you seriously want to fight me on it?" Charlie asked. Negi shook his head then walked back into his room.

Charlie read the planner as we walked to the three A classroom. First he read the roster. " Okay, we have the martial arts chicks, that gymnast girl, my roommate and the kids caretaker. Man, whatta group."

Opening the door to the classroom he slid it shut behind him then walked to Negi's desk. Everyone in the room sat down then looked up to see it wasn't Negi. Yue lifted her eyes from her book last then saw him.

" Now what?" Yue asked herself.

" Where's Negi?" Asuna asked for everyone.

" I think he's taking a nap. His workload is so hectic I volunteered to take some of it off his shoulders, and teaching this class for however long," Charlie said then sat at the desk. ' Well, so much for exploring campus.'

* * *

Charlie read through the grade reports from everyone's teachers. Finding who was failing what. He knew if homework had been assigned in classes and since they were all in the same classes it was fairly easy to keep track of everyone.

" Alright, since all of you are in the same classes you have the some homework in science, english, math, and history. So, get to it. If you need help or for me to check it, I'm right here. If you finish everything, you can leave early, since I can only hold you till five."

Everyone started to work an their various homework assignments. Except for Yue who kept her eyes glued to a book. Charlie got off his desk chair then walked across the room. Grabbing a seat from the table in front of Yue he spun it around and sat on it backwards, using the backrest as an armrest.

" Why aren't you working?" Charlie asked her.

" Don't have anything to do," she said back. Charlie sighed. He knew that she didn't just forget. She just left it so she couldn't be forced into it. Then the door opened and Nodoka walked into the room.

" Professor, so to interr..." she started with a smile on her face that dropped when she saw Charlie. Everyone faced her as she stood there surprised. She was sure it was Negi who taught this class.

" Yes Nodoka?" Charlie asked.

" Oh..it's just..that, Yue forgot her bag," she said then ran off. Her hopes was to be appear helpful in front of Negi. Plan backfired.

" Well, what do you know," Charlie said then picked up Yue bag then placed it in front of her, " get to work." Yue groaned then shook her head.

" No," Yue said to Charlie. Charlie expected something like that. It was typical Yue. Charlie stood up off the chair then walked to the desk. Picking up Yue's reports he looked at them.

" Four missing assignments in english. Three in math, and five a piece in history and science. So, seventeen missing assignments total."

" So what?" Yue asked like she didn't care.

" Your failing english, math, and history. Science your clinging with a d," he said then looked at the clock.

" It's three o'clock right now. If you can finish two subjects by five, you can leave early and I'll ask your teachers to wing your grades into passing," Charlie offered.

Yue's eyes found his. Could he really do that? It sounded to good. " What's the catch?"

" If you miss five more assignments, I'll send in a recommendation to have you held back."

" You can't do that!" Yue shouted at him.

" I can, I am and I will," Charlie said to her.

" I saved you against Evangeline. I had to kiss you, you ungrateful pervert. Then you pull this on me!" She shouted then remembered more people were in the room.

" That's different," Charlie said to her. " What goes outside of this classroom has nothing to do what goes on in it. I'm your teacher first, not your friend. Thanks against Eva if that's what you really want. Now," Charlie said then opened her english book and slammed it on her desk. " I want three haikus, a cinquain, and Julius Caesar act one and two worksheets on that desk by five."

Yue glared at him then knocked her book off the desk and against the wall. Picking up the book she was reading she made a b-line to the back door so she wouldn't have to walk pass Charlie.

" Yue, if you leave here right now, I'll fill out that recommendation I promised before I leave and have it on the deans desk by five o five," Charlie said to her while looking straight at her.

Yue stopped with the doors handle gripped in her right hand, book in the left. Charlie could see she was angry just by her posture. She was fuming. Quickly she slid the door open then took one step out into the hall. Before she closed it she looked right at him.

" Fuck you," she said, then slammed the sliding door shut.


	9. Eva's offer

Charlie walked into Mr. Konoe's office and walked through it after closing the door behind him. Mr. Konoe looked up from his desk and saw Charlie walking over to him with a folder. After stepping through the room he stopped in front of his desk.

" Can I help you Charlie?" Konoe asked him. Charlie placed down a sheet of paper on the desk. Konoe picked it up and read it.

" Yue is a really smart girl I have no doubt about that. But she isn't doing anything in any of her classes. Her highest grade is a D and that's including gym."

" You've only been here a week and your already kicking people out," Konoe said to Charlie then placed the sheet of paper back on the desk.

" I don't want to hold her back. My idea is we use this as motivation to make her do something. And if her study habits continue on their current course I see no way around it."

Konoe leaned back in his chair slightly while twirling a finger through his beard. Charlie placed the folder on the desk and Konoe opened that. Reading her teacher reports and grades he came to a conclusion.

" I agree. I'll fill out the paperwork, but let's not file it unless her attitude towards school doesn't change for the better," Konoe said. Charlie nodded then his cell phone went off.

" Sorry," Charlie said then walked away from the desk then answered it. It was Negi.

" Um...Charlie, you might want to come back to your room," Negi said from the other side.

" What? Why?" Charlie asked then remembered that Yue was his roommate. And she hated him as of now. " Is she..."

" Throwing your stuff out into the hall in a blind rage," Negi asked then the sound of something hitting the ground. " You can say that."

" Try to stop her, I'm on my way," Charlie said then hung up and placed the phone back into his pocket. " I need to go."

" No fury like a woman's scorn?" Konoe asked. Charlie nodded then ran out of the room.

* * *

" Yue, this is pointless," Nodoka said to Yue who grabbed Charlie's stuff and threw it out the door.

" Everything's gone wrong since he came," Yue said after tossing out a handful of clothes.

" How?" Nodoka asked. " What has he really done that was so wrong?" Yue stopped to think of a reply.

" I've gotten used to him?" Haruna said from her bed. She was laying on it with a book under her.

" Even I don't shake knowing he's in the room anymore," Nodoka said to her. Yue took a deep breath then sat on the couch.

" So he wants you to do your homework. Boo hoo, suck it up," Haruna said then turned a page on her book.

" He publically insulted me!" Yue said to them. Haruna giggled.

" You do that on your own half the time anyway," Haruna said to her. Nodoka nodded in agreement.

" I don't care. I don't like him, and I'd wish he's just go," Yue said then picked up a necklace with a locket on it that belonged to Charlie. She turned her body and cocked her arm back to throw before Charlie grabbed her wrist.

" Throw that and I will give you a reason to hate me," Charlie said while squeezing her wrist. Yue dropped it into Charlie's hand then rubbed her wrist when he let go.

" That hurt," Yue said to him.

" Though you don't give a damn about anything I own, I value this item above all things." Charlie said then opened it. Inside was a picture of Noelle and a picture of his parents. " If you want me gone," Charlie said then threw Haruna his key and grabbed the last bag Yue hadn't thrown out yet, " I'm gone."

" Professor Nathan," Nodoka said then walked over to him. " You don't have to quit."

" I'm not quitting, I'm just leaving the room," Charlie said then walked out. Gathering his things in the hallway he picked them up over his shoulders and walked away.

Yue closed the door and then fell onto the couch. It was nice to have it be hers again. She seemed like she accomplished something, but Haruna looked at her angry.

" Do you have any idea why I let him live here?" Haruna asked. Yue shook her head. " We got double the room allowance for housing a faculty member. And now you just ruined that," Haruna said then jumped off her bed and left the room.

Yue looked at Nodoka who looked at her. Nodoka had to be on her side. Instead of agreeing Nodoka shook her head then left as well. Suddenly Yue felt bad. The reason she didn't want him here was for reasons that really didn't make since to herself. Sighing she saw Charlie had dropped her backpack off.

Picking up her backpack it flipped upside down and a few items spilled out. Picking up the two books she picked up the last item. Her temporary contract card with Charlie. Something was strange about it though. It was blank. Earlier it was full of color, now nothing. Leaving her room she went to ask Chamo.

* * *

Charlie placed his stuff in the battle scarred opening in the woods. Sighing he sat against a tree. Saw far he really didn't like japan. It was a daily soap opera that he didn't want to be involved in.

" This place is nuts," Charlie said then looked at the sky. It would be getting dark fairly soon. Suddenly he heard a light humming noise. It got louder and clearly as the seconds ticked by. Listening he tried to find the source but it was echoing off all of the trees around him.

When it got it loudest he heard the source. Turning around he felt something, or someone hit him hard. Charlie flew back and rolled several times off the ground and landed on his back after skidding about ten feet. He heard something hit the ground and the humming stop.

" I'm terribly sorry," Chachamaru said to him then walked over to him. " I was going to fast to avoid you."

" I can see that," Charlie said then groaned. Then he heard footsteps and saw Eva looking down at him.

" One hit and you're out," Eva said to him. She was in her school skirt, and showed no sign of being embarrassed with Charlie having a perfect view but didn't take the opportunity to look.

" Not very modest I see," Charlie said then kicked up and off the ground. " What're you doing?"

" Maintenance for her," Eva said then pointed at Chachamaru. " The science girls asked me to see if her upgrades are working."

" Whatever," Charlie said then sat against the tree again. Eva looked at all of his bags then back at him.

" Camping out?" Eva asked.

" Nope. I got kicked out by Yue," Charlie said to her. Eva almost laughed.

" Why?"

" Beats me. So, in a since I guess I am camping out," he said then looked at the fading light from the setting sun. Eva nodded then looked at Chachamaru.

" Good luck with that," Eva said then started to walk away. Chachamaru followed her then walked next to her.

" Mistress, can we offer him a place to live for the meantime?" Chachamaru asked. Eva stopped.

" No, we can't," Eva said then started to walk again.

" Why not."

" I respect him but I don't have to offer him shelter," Eva said to Chachamaru without looking at her.

" I think we should mistress. Professor is a good person. Plus, not to mention he'll know some things about professor Springfield since they knew each other since before they arrived here." Eva stopped again.

Charlie had to know a few things about Negi most people wouldn't know. Not to mention since they came from the same village, he might have even seen Nagi. Eva smiled. She'd let him stay but not for free. Eva walked back then stopped in front of Charlie.

" I'll make you an offer. How much do you know about Negi?" Eva asked.

" Are you kidding me. I could tell you his shoe size," Charlie said to her. Eva smiled.

" Tell me a few things about him, and do a little work, and then you can stay at my cottage," Eva said to him. Charlie looked up.

" You serious," Charlie asked.

" Yes." Charlie looked at her then looked at the nighttime. It was getting colder and he didn't feel like sleeping outside. Standing up he picked up his stuff then looked at Eva.

" Alright, thanks," Charlie said then started to walk with them back to the cottage.


	10. The blank card

Chachamaru woke up Charlie early in the morning. Evangeline could be heard off in the house opening her cabinets and closing the refrigerator. Charlie checked his watch for the time. Six on the dot. He thanked her and then she went about her morning chores.

Charlie closed the door to the spare room then stretched. Taking off his pajama pants he put on a pair of black jeans. Walking to a clear spt he started to do pushups then started his sit ups. Looking around the room for a bar or something to do pull ups he found a beam from the floor above and used that.

Evangeline opened his door while he was in the middle of his seventeenth pull up. He reached twenty then dropped back down. His quick morning exercise was over so he started to rummage through one of his bags. Putting on a black shirt to match the jeans. On it was a logo for a band and Eva shook her head.

" Thought it made you look unprofessional wearing clothes likes that?" Eva asked him, as if he had forgotten.

" It's Wednesday," Charlie said then walked passed her into the living room.

" What does the day have to do with anything?" Eva asked.

" Wednesday is a laid back day. It's not Monday, but it's not Friday," Charlie said to her then stepped into the kitchen.

" Why do you workout if your strong enough with magic alone?" Eva asked, his morning routine so far a little strange.

" Magic isn't always answer. Plus, it's not all that reliable. Spells backfire all the time. A punch may miss, but at least the only thing I hurt is the air. Best keep the mind and body in shape. A sound mind in a sound body," Charlie answered then walked into her kitchen.

" Sound mind?" Eva asked. Sound body was believable, sound mind was up for debate.

" So, what's for breakfast?" Charlie asked then opened her fridge.

" I rarely eat breakfast, so I normally don't have it. Satsuki is the only person I eat from, but since it's not festival time she's closed," Eva said to him then sat on her table. " But, there's probably stuff in there to make something."

" Want eggs?" Charlie asked, finding eggs in the fridge next to the milk. Eva shrugged and Charlie put them on the counter. " Eggs it is." Opening her freezer he found bacon and put those down as well.

Cooking the eggs and bacon he placed them in front of Eva then started on his. Eva eyed her eggs carefully. Everything seemed good, so she took a bite and was surprised it was decent. Not Satsuki but still good. But something was missing.

" Where's the toast?" Eva asked.

" You don't have a toaster," Charlie said to her then held up two slices of bread, " But you have bread." Charlie suddenly got an idea. " How do you like your toast?"

" Dark," Eva said to him. Charlie lit the bread on fire for a moment then blew it out. Putting it on a small plate he put it down in front of her. " Thanks?" Eva said, not sure if it really needed it.

Charlie finished his breakfast and put the eggs and bacon on a plate. Creating two flames three inches apart her held the bread in between the flames. When it was brown he did the same to the next piece. Blowing out the flames he made a egg and bacon sandwich and sat across from Eva. She eyes his food curiously.

" I'm from america. We turn everything into a sandwich," Charlie said then took a bite. Eva just looked away then ate her breakfast. Chachamaru walked into the room and looked at Eva.

" The chores are done Mistress," She said to her. Eva nodded then checked her clock. Chachamaru left the room again to get some tea ready.

" How long have you known Negi for?" Eva asked Charlie. Charlie took a bite of his sandwich. Eva took a sip of tea that Chachamaru just placed in front of her.

" Five or six years. When I first arrived in Wales after the demon attack my parents died. I still went to school, but for the next five months or so I was on the streets. The academy found out and temporarily put me under the care of Negi's cousin."

" You lived with him?" Eva asked him, putting the cup down on the small plate.

" Only for six months. To be honest though, since Negi's got here, he's chilled out a lot. It used to be all work and no play for him. Trying to live up to the legacy." Eva nodded then took a sip of her tea again.

" I heard a rumor you were in love with Nagi," Charlie said to her. Eva's tea went down the wrong pipe and she started to cough. Chachamaru patted her back till it was almost out.

" No..." Eva said then coughed, " I wasn't," she said, swallowing to get regular breathing back. Charlie laughed and Eva blushed slightly.

" Never thought I'd see the day a vampire blushes," Charlie said to her with a laugh.

" I didn't love him."

" Sure you didn't."

* * *

Chamo examined Yue's card closely. The card Yue got for her pactio with Charlie. The card was blank, not even the slightest bit of color. Yue sat on her couch as Chamo looked it over ." No idea," Chamo said to her. Yue groaned then took the card back.

" What do you mean, no idea?" Yue asked, as if that didn't speak for itself. Chamo knew the most about pactios, it seemed logical he'd know.

" I mean, I've only read of things like this. Never actually seen a blank card before. Though it isn't unheard of," Chamo said to her. Yue groaned then looked at him.

" Where did you read this, and what did it say?" Yue asked. Chamo just shrugged and Yue groaned again.

" The book might be at the library," Chamo said then jumped onto her shoulder. " We got an hour till class, so let's go."

" It'll take hours to find anything in there," Yue said then leaned against the couch more. Chamo jumped off and landed on the couch then ran across the floor.

" I'm on it sis," Chamo said then scampered away. Yue shook her head because of how large the task was of someone his size, then looked at the blank card. She started to think about Charlie.

" I was kinda mean to him," She said aloud. Suddenly the card changed. It lit up and when the light stopped something was on the card. The background, though a little blurry was started to reappear. The picture of Yue on her broom wasn't there still.

On a hunch she looked at the card she got from Negi. The background was starting to fade. As if the other card had taken it. Grabbing her bag she opened her door, closed it then started to run down the hall. She reached the stairs about the same time Chamo. He slid down the railing of the stairs and when he reached the bottom jumped and Yue caught him.

" I think I can miss one day," Yue said then sprinted for the library.


	11. Partner Preference Pactio

Class started and Negi and Charlie were at the board writing down the notes for Julius Caesar act three. As they chalked down the notes the class was just standing around chit chatting about recent events and what not.

"So, you're staying at Eva's now?" Negi asked surprised. It seemed strange because only a few days prior she was trying to kill him.

"Just for the meantime," Charlie said then stopped to read the notes on the sheet of paper and start writing them again. "Shouldn't be for too long."

" Still, wasn't she trying to kill you last week?" Negi asked, the entire concept still lost to him. Charlie just shrugged then finished the notes and lay the chalk down. A moment later the bell rang.

The class did the morning bow and everyone was seated. Negi started class while Charlie checked the attendance. Everyone was here except for Yue. Charlie got up off his chair and walked over to Nodoka who was closely following along with Negi's lesson plan.

" You wouldn't happen to know where Yue is?" Charlie asked her before she knew he was standing next to her. Nodoka didn't answered right away, because she really wasn't comfortable with his proximity.

" Huh?" She asked, when she was silent for ten seconds and had forgotten the question Charlie had asked.

" Where's Yue?" Charlie asked again. Nodoka thought for a second then remembered.

" I haven't seen her all morning, but where else would she go?" Nodoka asked. Charlie raised an eyebrow at her. " Library island."

" Thanks," Charlie said to her then walked back to the front. Nodoka took a breath from the sudden calmness. Charlie walked over to Negi and grabbed his bag.

" I'll be back later," Charlie said to him then started to walk off.

" Where're you going?" Negi asked. He was fairly sure nothing was planned for Charlie today.

" Time for me to play truant officer."

* * *

Yue skimmed through a book table of contents then closed it. Nothing again. Placed the book one the top of a large stack of books that reached her neck and grabbed another. She started to skim and closed it. Nothing again.

" Class started half an hour ago and we've been at it for at least an hour and a half," Chamo said from a row of book out of Yue's reach.

Yue sighed then looked at the blank card again. It had to mean something. Looking at Negi's card she ran her finger down the fading part and then looked at the appearing part on the other card. She sat down next to a shelf then heard footsteps coming at her.

" Truancy is a two hour Saturday detention," Charlie said to her with his messenger back hanging on his left shoulder about thirty feet away.

" You think I care?" Yue asked him without facing him.

" I think you do," Charlie said to her, " Perfect attendance until today. You don't do much but you're damn good at being punctual."

Yue stood up off the ground then threw Charlie the blank card. Charlie caught it with his right hand and examined it.

" What's this?" Charlie asked then looked up at her.

" That's our pactio card. You wouldn't happen to know why it's blank now?" Yue asked. Charlie looked at it again then managed to make out the thin colorful background.

" Not a clue in hell," he finally said to her. Yue lowered her head then sat against the book shelf again. Charlie stopped looking at the card then looked at her.

" I'll look into it. You, go to class," Charlie said to her

" Why, it's a two hour if I show up late or not at all," Yue said to him. Charlie opened his bag and took out a sheet of paper. Using a shelf as a solid surface he wrote something down then handed it to her.

" It's a pass. It says you were excused, looking for a book that you needed to complete an assignment for me," Charlie said to her. Yue read it over. It's what it said.

" What about my attendance record?" Yue asked.

" First hour should still be on when you get there. I'll mark you as present if you hurry,"Charlie said with a smile. Yue smiled back then grabbed her bag and ran off.

" Thanks," She said as she ran by. Charlie smiled then felt the card move. More of the image just appeared. Charlie ran his finger down the new addition and looked back at Yue who just rounded the corner out of sight.

" What the hell is with this thing?" Charlie asked loud.

* * *

Charlie checked his watch then sat on a chair made of stacked books. They were at his neck, five complete stacks of books. His watch said it was about time for school to let out. He sighed then looked at the card again. He ran his finger down the detail again and then just looked at it.

" Heads up!" Chamo shouted from above. Charlie looked up and a book hit him in the forehead spine first. He feel over his stacks of books and they fell all around like a domino affect. Charlie lay there, his forehead turning red and with books covering him. Chamo hopped down and Charlie gave him a death glare.

" I said heads up," Chamo said to him. Charlie groaned then picked up the book that hit him. He read the title then opened it. The first page he opened to was the one he was looking for.

" Unbelievable," Charlie said to himself then rubbed his head.

* * *

Yue twirled her pencil on her desk waiting for the bell to ring. It did a second later and she picked up her backpack and started to walk out the door.

" Yue wait up," Nodoka said jogging up from behind her. Yue stopped and let her catch up. Nodoka caught up and then they started to walk again.

" What's your hurry?" Nodoka asked Yue.

" I need to get to the library," Yue said then looked at her, " Charlie should be done by now."

" Professor Nathan? I thought you hated him," Nodoka said because of yesterday.

" I do. This is mutual between us," Yue said then arrived at their room. Haruna was already is so the door was already unlocked. Yue threw her bag on the couch then walked to the fridge and grabbed a juice box.

Closing the fridge she stabbed the straw into the juice box and started for the door. She reached the door and told Nodoka and Haruna she'd be back later. Closing the door behind her she turned and collided with Charlie and Chamo.

Yue wobbled back and would have fallen if Charlie hadn't grabbed her hand. He puled her back to her feet to regain her balance. Then let her go.

" Stop sneaking around like that," Yue said to him. It wasn't the first time she collided into him. And she had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time at the rate they were going.

" Who's sneaking? You're just a klutz," Charlie said to her with a grin. Yue frowned at him then sighed.

" Did you find the book or not?" Yue asked, not in any mood to fight him. Charlie handed her a book. Yue took it and looked at the cover. " Magic of the heart? How is this the right book?" Yue asked. She was fairly certain something from the heart had nothing to do with the card. Charlie had booked marked a page with the card that hung out.

" Well you read that and I'll talk to Negi about what I missed today. See you and the baka rangers later. I'm taking the class full time now," Charlie said then walked away.

Yue tucked the book under her arm then walked into her room. Nodoka and Haruna looked up, surprised to see her back so early. Yue just shrugged then moved her backpack and then sat on the couch. She opened the book marked page and looked at the card and saw the addition immediately.

" More came back," Yue said then pulled out her card from Negi, " and more disappeared." She looked at the page in the book and saw the title of the page in bold letters.

'Rare Pactio Occurrences .'

' Mages in training are highly advised to make a temporary partnership. Usually a matter of the heart, it is better to make a pactio with someone you get along with. Pactios can be attained by transfer of blood, but the most common method is a kiss on the lips. A kiss anywhere else is a failed pactio, a card will be given, but won't be very affective. The point of a temporary pactio is to find a permanent partner in the future to achieve the rank of master magi. In most cases a permanent pactio can only be achieved by two adults. However, on rare cases teenagers or younger can make a permanent pactio if the bond is strong enough.

' Even rarer than a child permanent pactio is what is called a partner preference pactio. This occurs when two mages make a temporary partnership with the same person. In this the partner keeps the first artifact, but can go into battle with either mage at any time. Two cards appear, but with one new detail. A pactio duel occurs. A pactio duel is what happens when a partner preference pactio occurs. The mages try to win the affection, love and support of the partner. The more the partner's affection toward one of the mages is, the more detail and image the card has. The less affection there is, the card will start to fade and the other card will receive more automatically.

'In the end the only true way to end a pactio duel is a permanent pactio with one of the two. The losing mages card shatters because it is no longer useable.'

Yue closed the book and lay into the couch more. Suddenly it made sense. Her current anger at Charlie blanked the card. Looking at her alarm clock she saw her after school class was starting soon. Grabbing her bag she flung it over her shoulder and left.


	12. Permanent Record

**_I had a snow day today. Snowed a foot and a half over night. Went sledding and hurt the side of my head. _**

* * *

Charlie sat down in the grass on the academy's lawn. Falling onto his back he looked up at the overcast sky and sighed. At least the weather was nice he had to admit. Since getting to Japan last month he had only seen two rainy days. But even those days were comfortable. Class had just let out and he was already ruining his dress clothes.

Suddenly his sun was blocked and he was in the shade. Opening his eyes he saw it was Yue standing next to him. Pulling himself to a sit he looked up at her.

" Can I help you?" Charlie asked her, leaning back and using his arms for support.

" Just wanted to ask why you're laying in the grass," Yue answered then sat next to him.

" Boredom," Charlie said then fell back gain. Yue fell back next to him and looked up as well. Now it was apparent to Charlie she wanted to ask him something.

" What is it?" Charlie asked. Yue just continued to look up.

" I'd like to know more about Noelle," Yue said to him. Charlie looked at a cloud in the sky then got an idea. Concentrating his magic he saw the cloud starting to move. Soon it started to shape itself into the figure of a girl. Yue saw the cloud and knew it was Charlie doing it.

" She was about your height, smart and cute like Nodoka, but strong and pigheaded like Asuna. Brown hair, dark eyes, but she had a glare as strong as yours," Charlie said then looked at her. Yue rolled over to look at him and he rolled to look at her. Then at the same time they rolled back.

" When did you meet her?" Yue asked him staring at the cloud.

" When I was nine. First day of magic academy in Wales. I was partnered up with her on my first day to have a nonlethal magic fight. It was only recently when I had arrived I knew I was a wizard so I knew absolutely nothing. She didn't go easy on me, and she never did until after we graduated."

" When was your first kiss? Not with Noelle but in general," Yue asked, just curious. Charlie looked over at her again.

" When I was like five or six. What about you?"

" Do pactios count?" Yue asked then looked over at him. He shook his head. If it was a kiss he felt there should be no strings attached.

" In that case then I'm still waiting," Yue said to Charlie.

" Your fifteen and you've never had a real kiss?" Charlie asked. Yue blushed from embarrassment. She had to admit it was pretty bad.

" Hey, lay off. I've been in Mahora half of my life. An all girls campus."

" Not like there aren't guys in the city. That's not a real excuse you know," Charlie said with a chuckle.

" Okay, I get it, I'm a loser," Yue said then sat up.

" You're not a loser. If anything I am. I'm sixteen, no family, no girlfriend, a low paying job and I live with a vampire," Charlie said then sat up as well.

" You're just unfortunate, and I said it was alright to move back in," Yue said to him, having kicked him out nearly three weeks ago. Then she lay back down again.

" Sorry but at least Eva's futon has room for my feet. My feet hung off your couch. Your couch is shorter than you are."

" I'm not short, I'm just...um.."

" Vertically challenged?" Charlie asked with a smile.

" Shut up," Yue said making Charlie laugh. Then he felt his pocket vibrate. Pulling out the pactio card Chamo made a copy of he looked at it. The card had changed again.

" Hey, your image is started to fade in some," Charlie said then showed her the card. Yue sitting on the broom holding a book was starting to reappear slightly.

" You were thinking about me weren't you?" Charlie said to her. He looked at her and smiled then took the card back.

" What, no I wasn't," Yue said to him.

" Don't make me get Nodoka," Charlie said to her. All she had to do was say adeat, Yue's name and she'd know exactly if she was thinking about him.

" Go ahead I wasn't thinking about you," Yue said then brushed some grass off of her skirt. Charlie just tucked the card back into his pocket at looked around the school. Considering it was early afternoon it was fairly quiet.

" Whatever you say," Charlie said to her. " Anything else you want to ask me?"

" Actually, yes. Why are you here exactly? I know that Negi's cousin asked you to come, but there had to have been something in it for you as well," Yue said to him. Charlie looked at her.

" My masters degree. When you're working as a part time sub it's hard to earn enough credit to take the test to get your masters degree. But when here if I even assistant teach I get more credit and since it's full time, that's more frequent credit. Not a whole lot of schools in England would pay a sixteen year old to teach the impressionable minds of young children. Impressionable my ass," Charlie said, the last part more to himself.

" Anything other reason?"

" I've always wanted to come to Japan. Heard the place was pretty nice," Charlie said then took a deep breath. It smelt better at Mahora with less pollution in the air.

" Why Japan?" Yue asked.

" Two reasons, personally I think Japanese women are hot," Charlie said then turned to her. Yue blushed then looked away from him. " And Japan has a lot of video games."

" So, you're here for a masters degree, anime porn, and playstation?" Yue asked him. Charlie nodded with a laugh. Yue stood up off the ground then looked at him. " I need to go."

" Well see you around," Charlie said, standing up as well. Charlie looked in his pocket and picked up the card again. When he looked at it the image that had appeared had faded away.

" Dammit," Charlie said aloud.

* * *

Charlie knocked on the principles door then stepped into the office. Konoe lifted up his head from paper work and looked at Charlie. 

" Mr. Nathan, how may I help you? But before you start can I ask you a..."

" I don't want to marry Konoka, so don't even get started," Charlie said with a laugh. Konoe leaned into his chair then ran a finger through his beard.

" Never mind then, proceed," Konoe said, deciding to drop auctioning off his granddaughter for a few minutes.

" Can I have the permanent record of Yue Ayase?"

" Why, I only bring out the permanent records of a student if it's an emergency," Konoe said then shuffled some of the papers on his desk.

" I know, but it comes to my understanding Yue's been here since the start of her education. Some kids have hard grades to flip around. I hate to admit it but some are actually just stupid but I seriously don't believe Yue is. I think she's really smart. If I view her records I might be able to find out what's holding her back, find some sort of pattern to help her move in the right direction."

" I'm sorry, but the amount of paper work it would take to get clearance of such a things. I have to get clearance from the board of directors, her parents, Yue herself. It could take weeks," Konoe said then finished organizing his papers. " Nothing I can do about it."

" Thanks anyway," Charlie said then left the office. Walking down the hall he saw a room on his right then kneeled down to tie his shoe when he saw a teacher. Waiting for the teacher to walk by he looked around and saw it was clear. Opening his wallet he pulled out his library card and slid it between the door and the frame. After ten seconds the lock was dragged back and Charlie opened the door.

Tucking the card back into his wallet he said, " Thanks for the card Haruna." Stepping into the next room he closed the door behind him then turned on the light. " Finally, my first felony over seas." A sign on the door said ' Student Records'.

The lights in the room turned on and Charlie examined the room. The room was a library of file cabinets. They were labeled and stacked on top of each others half way to the over sized ceiling. Hundreds of stacks were lined up completing several rows of cabinets that filled the space of this gigantic room. Rolling ladders where placed around to help reach higher cabinets.

" That's a lot of files," Charlie said to himself then stepped into the room further to begin his search.

* * *

It took Charlie ten minutes to find the right section to start searching in. The first row he got to listed students from the early twentieth century to 1910. From that were two sub sections, magical and non magical students. The row he was in ended at 1935-1940. 

Reading the small labels on the cabinets he saw the dates. 1940-50, 1950-60 and so on and so forth. Then he found what he was looking for. Current enrolled students. Finding her grade he skimmed through the A's in non magical and found nothing. Then he looked over at magical. Since she knew some magic it was possible she was transferred. Skimming through magical he found her name and pulled her file out.

" Here we go," Charlie said to himself then opened it. It was a large accordion folder over flowing with nine years of education. In the folder were dividers to keep everything organized by grade and non educational matters. Attendance was there as well, between counseling and behavioral conduct history. Charlie guess it was about five pounds of paper.

Tucking the record under he arm he turn and started to head for the door. Already fairly deep in the cabinet library he had to back track to find the door. It was almost like a maze. Reading the dates he went back through history to find the door. When he found the door he saw a shadow behind it.

" Why is the light on in there?" A voice asked. The doorknob started to turn and Charlie swore to himself. Running back into the maze he hid his back between to cabinets then looked around the corner. Takahata had entered the permanent records. " And why is that door unlocked?"

Charlie pressed his back against the cabinet and heard Takahata's footsteps entering the room, leaving the door wide open. Taking a breath he looked around the corner again and saw that he decided to walk down his row. Charlie swore to himself again then decided now was a great time for a brilliant idea. If he ran Takahata would see or hear him. Then he'd probably lose his job after being caught.

Looking up he saw the light above the door was hanging up and lighting almost the entire space between Charlie and the door. Charlie smiled then reached into his pocket and found his pen. Throwing the pen it shattered the lightbulb giving him his cover to make a run for it. Giving a light run, not too fast because Takahata would have heard him, he ran out the door then out into the hall. He didn't stop running till he was out of the building.

* * *

Charlie collapsed onto his futon bed then looked at the ceiling. That was almost too close. Sitting up he picked up her record. The accordion folder weighed more than it looked as Charlie placed it on the bed and opened it. 

" Let's get started, first grade," Charlie said then pulled it out. Teachers notes all seemed positive.

' _She's great in class, positive outlook on most things, participates and seems eager to learn_.' Charlie slid the teacher review back into the folder then took out her grades for that year. Straight a's the entire year.

" She started good, so what the hell happened?" Second grade was better.

' _Promised young lady, gets along well with others, participates. A joy to have in class_.' Again straight a's with a small b plus. Then he opened third grade. ' _Yue is a hard worker and has a great personality. She participates in and communicates well with others_.' Straight A's.

Next was forth and fifth. Noting was different. All positive grades and teacher reviews. Charlie put fifth back into the folder and sighed.

" What the happened to you?" Charlie asked then opened sixth.

' _Isn't improving in anything. Anti social, and doesn't participate, study, or turn in homework_.'

" That's where it started. Between fifth and sixth. Now I need to know why and when," Charlie said then placed it back into the folder. Looking around the folder for a clue he saw a label that might help. Counseling.

Charlie pulled the few counseling sheets out of the folder then looked at the first one. It was dated the year she was in sixth grade, all the way up to the end of seventh. The sheets were signed by Shizuna. The sheets were notes from after sessions with Yue. They were covered in print. Deciding to read the most recent first he placed it on the futon then pushed the others aside.

' _At the beginning of sixth grade Yue was placed into counseling on the request of her parents. Since the death of her grandfather who I was told she was very fond of, she basically shut down. Her a's became d's, and b's became f's, she never pays attention in class, never studies, never performs one productive action in class. Nothing I've asked her to do has helped. She can't seem to keep organized, motivated, are at least interested in anything academic. In her classes all she does is sit in the back, drink juice boxes, reads books and never participates even when called upon. But she still has perfect attendance_.

' _Early in our session when the death of her grandfather over break was still heavy she mentioned suicide. Thankfully it remained only thought and not action. I don't want to give up on such a promising young woman, but she isn't helping me or herself get better. We spend half of our sessions in pure silence. Or in the sense I'll ask her a question and she won't answer, or at least not directly. She shows no sign of even wanting to improve. I've tried everything I can professionally think of, and nothing has reached her._

'_ At the beginning of eighth grade I've been asked to not counsel her anymore. Her parents believe it pointless at this stage and not worth the money if she'll just sit on my couch with her arms cross two hours a week. Her suicidal thoughts haven't been mentioned for nearly a year, but perhaps she's just stopped reminding me. I'll monitor from here out to see if progress is made.'_

Charlie closed the folder then looked at his card. It explained a lot but not enough. She was depressed but still seemed to be better than what the notes said. She was much more open with people, even if it was just a small group like Nodoka, Haruna and Negi. Something was making her better. Charlie placed everything back in her folder then sighed. Now it was time to find out what was making her better and work with it.

* * *

Class was starting soon and Charlie, Ku Fei, Ako, Kazumi and Kaede were playing hackysac. 

" Alright, five hits then pass," Charlie said then started the game off. Putting it on his foot he kicked it up and hit it off his knee. It bounced up and he then kicked it with his left, then his right then passed to Kazumi. Kazumi hit it with the side of her foot then kneed it with her right. Kicking it up with her left it bounced off her head then fell back. Before it hit the ground she bounced it back up to Ako.

Ako started with hitting it off her right knee, then left knee. It fell to her left foot, where she passed it to her right. Hitting it again with her right she kicked it up and over her head. Placing her left foot straight up behind her the hackysac landed on the sole of her shoe.

" Nice," Charlie complimented. Ako smiled then flung it over her head again. The hackysac started to head toward Ku who got ready to hit it. Misjudging her power she kicked it much harder than intended. Charlie ducked as the hackysac skimmed his head and broke through the classroom window.

Everyone in the room froze then looked at the shattered glass. Ku started to run the back of her head and run through her apology. Charlie sighed then walked to the window and looked outside. His hackysac was on the walking path outside surrounded by glass.

" I sorry," Ku said to him. Charlie shrugged as the bell rang. Everyone took their seats and Negi came in a minute later. In a little panic because he was late. He started to say something about it before he saw the glass.

" What happened?" Negi asked. Ku started to try and speak before Charlie butted in.

" My fault, kicked the hackysac too hard, went right out the window," Charlie said then started to leave.

" Where are you going?" Negi asked.

" To get the hackysac," Charlie said then left the room. Negi shook his head at him the looked at the class. They did the morning bow and class started with talking about the reading from the night before. Finishing act three of Julius Caesar. Negi started to give people reading roles for today while Charlie walked into the room juggling the hackysac. Negi stopped and looked at him as he kicked it up and caught it in his left hand.

" Proceed," Charlie said then threw the hackysac on Negi's desk. Everyone was assigned reading except for a few fortunate people. Charlie leaned into the chair and examined the classroom for misbehavior. Everyone's eyes seemed to be looking at their books and following along even if they weren't assigned a part.

Even Yue was paying attention today. Negi assigned her with Brutus, the largest role in the entire play. Instead of moaning about it, she just read it. Not as enthusiastically as Natsumi who had Mark Antony but it was an improvement.

The class finished before act four could be completed so the last scene was assigned for homework. Because they had read it in class they would review it tomorrow but not take a quiz on it. The last minute of class was used by packing up their books and crowding around the door. Once the bell rang everyone flooded out to their next hour class. Yue however stayed behind and started to walk to the front of the classroom where Chisame was finishing up someone on her laptop.

Yue stopped in front of Charlie who was sitting at Negi's desk with a rubix cube. Charlie shuffled the blocks around and saw that he had completed four sides then turned it around. Some green was in red, and some read was in green. Groaning he placed it on the desk and finally noticed Yue standing there.

" Five years and I've only managed four sides, whatcha need?" Charlie asked. Yue handed him a small stack of paper. Charlie looked through the first few and saw that it was her work she never turned in.

" Here. I know it's really late but the quarter isn't over. Take points off for it being late if you want, but at least be happy I turned it in," Yue said then started to walk away. Charlie looked at her then back at the papers.

" Wait a sec," Charlie said to her. Yue stopped then looked at him. " Just like that?"

" Yeah," Yue said then left the room. Charlie shrugged then heard Chisame leaving. Starting to grade the work he took out a red pen and marked her very few mistakes. Opening the grading book he placed in her grades then averaged her grade. Now that seven assignments didn't have zeros, her grade was now a b. He then closed the book when the next class started to flood in.


	13. Breakfast at Satsuki

" I can't believe it's already that time of the year," Nodoka said to Yue and Haruna as they walked to Satsuki's for breakfast. Of course since it was the grand opening and the overture to the Mahora Festival it was packed. Only one table was left open but only because the people just got up. The three took the table and soon one of the people operating the food cart dropped by them.

" Morning guys, what do you want?" Ku asked them, skidding to a stop on her skates. She layed down some bread on the table that Haruna grabbed right away and started buttering one up. " Drinks?"

" Water," Nodoka said to her.

" Same," Haruna said with a half full mouth. Ku looked at Yue for her drink but saw she was opening her bag and pulling out a juice box. Ku looked over her shoulder at one of Satsuki's helpers.

" Charlie, two waters at table seven," Ku said to Charlie who was carrying two plates per arm then layed them down at a table with Negi, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna. They all took their food and thanked him before Charlie turned around.

" Alright," Charlie said then slid over to the counter and grabbed water from a long line that Satsuki had already set up. Grabbing two cups he slid back then skidded to a stop at the table.

" Well, well, good morning ladies. Here you go Nodoka, Haruna," Charlie said laying the water in front of them. Nodoka examined her cup and saw it was still a little dirty.

" Huh, Mr. Nathen, it's still a little dirty," Nodoka said to him. Charlie sighed then looked at the cup in front of Haruna. It was cleaner so he switched them when Haruna was looking through her bag.

" There you go," Charlie said then smiled, " Be back in a minute to get your orders," Charlie said then patted Nodoka's head. After that he skated to the counter and served someone elses food.

" Nodoka, you didn't flinch," Yue said to her.

" Why would I?" Nodoka asked. Yue just looked at her then at Charlie who bumped into some who was taking a drink at the time.

" Watch it!" The kid said to him and slammed his cup on the table.

" Sorry, really crowded," Charlie said to him.

" Kotaro, he said he was sorry," Chizuru said to him. Kotaro stared at Charlie then turned back around and continued his breakfast. Charlie rolled his eyes and slid over to Negi's table and leaned down next to it.

" Who the hell is that," Charlie said then pointed at Kotaro.

" It's Kotaro, he's a friend," Negi said to him. Charlie looked at him and saw his tail.

" He's a memeber of the wolves isn't he."

" Something like that, he doesn't like to talk about it," Negi said to him.

" Order up!" Satsuki shouted to Charlie. Charlie groaned then slid over to the counter and dropped off the food at the cheerleaders table. Grabbing a notebook he slid back to Yue's and skid to a stop. They placed in their orders and Charlie wrote them down then placed them on Ku's tray as she skated by him.

" Why are you helping?" Haruna asked. Yue and and Nodoka nodded, them wanting to know as well.

" Well, Chao had something to do so I'm just filling in," Charlie said them. " Been awhile since I was on skates though," Charlie said them looked at his feet.

" That's nice of you," Nodoka said to Charlie then smiled.

" I'm just a nice guy. See you in class, gotta work," Charlie said then pushed off the table and started to wait on a few more tables.

* * *

Later after class Yue and Nodoka entered Eva's resort to hear the loud sound of fighting. Right away they could tell it wasn't Negi and Eva becasue no magic was involved. It was an all out fist fight. Stepping across the bridge they saw two figures going at each other so fast it was impossible to tell who was fighting. Yue and Nodoka stopped to watch, and guessed it was Ku and Negi sparring. Then they saw Negi across the fight watching it also.

Nodoka's and Yue's hair was blown back from a powerful punch and Ku appeared stopped with her arm extended, hand in a fist. The other figure slid across the ground and fell off the edge of the resort but grabbed it before he fell. He quickly pulled himself up and stood facing Ku. Yue and Nodoka looked at each other when they saw it was Charlie.

" God damn," Charlie said with smile. Ku smiled then straightened her posture. Charlie smiled back then charged he and swung high, but Ku ducked under it and slid her foot to the ground, tripping Charlie. Charlie caught himself then pushed off his palms, lunging his feet at her, his soles hitting her in the chest. She flew back to the edge but slid to a stop before she reached the edge. Suddenly Charlie appeared from behind her and kicked her back onto the floor where she rolled several times before stopping. Ku got to her feet in time to catch Charlie's foot and swing him a cirlce. She jumped into the air and swung him straight at the floor.

Dust a debris shot up on Charlie's impact, blowing everyone's hair back. Ku landed several feet away, standing ready for anything. Charlie flew out of the dust and sent a punch to Ku's face but she grabbed his arm and with her free hand grabbed his neck. Before Ku could grab his other hand it grabbed her neck. Now they were choking each other, waiting for other to let go first. Ku fell to a knee first, but Charlie did too several seconds later.

" Draw?" Charlie mumbled through her grip.

" What?" She asked back.

" Draw, call it a draw." Ku nodded and Charlie said," On three. One...two...three." At the same time they let each other go and fell to the ground rubbing their necks. Charlie started to laugh and at the same time so did Ku.

" Christ, where did you learn that," Charlie asked Ku then pulled himself to his feet.

" I've been training everyday since I was really little," Ku said then pulled herself up as well. Charlie coughed once to get regular breathing back and Ku just cracked her neck and patted Charlie's shoudler.

" I think we're pretty even," Ku said to him then started to walk into the roofed area were Kotaro and Kaede were sitting crosslegged across from each other.

" This is boring," Kotaro said to her.

" Shut up, and find your center," Kaede said with a smile. Kotaro sighed then just did as told.

" Charlie, you're just as good as my master," Negi said then looked at Ku.

" She's stronger, she was holding back, I could tell. That hit that knocked me off was the best punch she had, she could have been throwing those the entire time. She cut me some slack," Charlie said then sat against the wall. " I like this place."

" We were stuck in here for a week once," Negi said to him.

" Heard about that. And what happened with Chao and what not. Pretty nutty," Charlie said then decided to lay down.

" You should enter the tournament with Kotaro and me," Negi said to Charlie.

" I'll pass on that," Charlie said then looked at Yue and Nodoka who were just walking over. " Don't you have some magic to teach?"

" Oh, we'll talk later," Negi said then walked over to Nodoka and Yue to get started with todays magic lesson.


	14. Ave

The Mahora festival was only around the corner, twelve hours to be exact and everyone was on edge. Every student in the school was talking about what they would do first, and of course who with. Yue had been bugging Nodoka for weeks to invite Negi again after the success of last time. When she actually built up the courage to kiss him, even if she ran away immediately afterward. Each club in the school was constructing their various games and activities throughout the campus to raise money for next year. Class three-A of course hadn't even finished their room yet.

" Why is everything going so slow!" Ayaka shouted in the room as everyone looked at her.

" We're going as fast as we can," Makie said then sat on the ground, " We'll never make it in time."

" Come on, we worked day and night last year, and we made a killing. Get up," Ayaka said then pulled Makie off the ground and pushed her to her working area again.

" Explain to me why we we're doing the haunted house again?" Chisame said from her laptop in the corner.

" Last year it worked, and this year people will be disappointed if we don't do it again," Ayaka said to Chisame who just shrugged and kept typing.

" Why aren't you working?" Ayaka asked.

" Did I work any last year?" Chisame asked and Ayaka shook her head, " Then people will be surprised if I did, best not disappoint them."

" Chisame!"

" Christ she's loud," Charlie said then held a board up for Negi who started to hammer it in.

" After a few months here I figured you'd be used to it," Negi said then finished hammering. Negi checked the sturdiness of the board and the nails slid off. Before he wobbled back Charlie pushed the board back on.

" Let me hammer it this time," Charlie said then took the hammer.

" Thanks," Negi said then held the board. Charlie almost dropped the board when a head came through the wood and looked right at him. It was girl with a cute face, red eyes, and white hair. She seemed to be glowing and flying so Charlie knew immediately she was a ghost so just kept hammering.

" Why aren't you entering the tournament?" Negi asked as he held the board firm against the frame.

" Because it's pointless. Last year you nearly exposed magic to everyone," Charlie said then aimed the nail to drive it in. " How are you even entering. You or Kotaro aren't sixteen."

" That's the easy part. Chamo bought some age candy just for the event."

" Illegal to the extreme hope you know," Charlie said then hammered while waiting for the ghost to say something.

" Well if you change your mind the entry for the tournament ends today," Negi said as Charlie hammered.

" They seem to be working hard like everyone else. Keep it up you two," Sayo said then smiled. After a second she frowned and remembered that they couldn't hear or see her. " Oh, I forgot, only Kazumi can see me. If only someone else could," Sayo said sadly then drifted through the wood.

" I can see you," Charlie said then hammered the nails in. Sayo drifted back through the board and looked at him. She just stared without saying anything, slowly getting closer to his face. When she was an inch away Charlie smiled.

" Boo," Charlie said and Sayo flew bing the wood again. Then she reappeared from above the wood looked at him.

" You can see me," She said then drifted down next to him.

" Yep," Charlie said then finished hammering.

" Who're you talking to?" Negi asked.

" A ghost," Charlie said then put the hammer down. " Get someone to paint this black and our work is done. Negi, do you have a ghost in your class."

" Yeah, Sayo, student one. Haven't seen her in awhile though," Negi said then left to get someone to paint the wall.

" Want to go for a walk?" Charlie asked then started to walk away.

" Sure, but um," Sayo said then looked at her lack of feet.

" Drift along, my bad," Charlie said then left the room. Sayo followed after him.

* * *

" You honestly stopped caring about how you died?" Charlie asked Sayo as they walked through the crowded street of Mahora were everyone was getting ready.

" Once you've been dead for this long, you kinda stop caring naturally," Sayo said as she floated next to him, every now and then a person walking right through her.

" Ever wonder what living was like, what would have happened?" Charlie asked.

" A little bit, but not too much to feel bad about it. I just hate not being seen or heard. How can you since I just got onto that subject," Sayo asked.

" I don't know. Since I was little I've been able to. I nearly died when I was five, my heart even stopped, so technically I was dead. But the doctors managed to bring me back and when I woke up, I could see ghost. It was weird, and scary at first. But most ghost are like you, sad, and alone because no one can see or hear you."

" So, how did you almost die?"

" Drowned in a swimming pool. Life guard did a little CPR and I was walking a few hours later," Charlie said then stopped when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. The world tree looming over a few buildings.

" You know, I've been here for months and I've never been at the base of the tree, wanna check it out."

" Sure, been there thousands of times, I'll give you a tour," Sayo said then floated toward the tree. Charlie followed behind while dodging people excited about tomorrow.

* * *

The tree was larger than Charlie could've imagined. It took him minutes just to walk around the base once. Charlie looked up while he walked around the tree and could feel magic energy coming from it. He touched the tree once and felt it was even a little warm. He let it go then just admired it more.

" Okay, this is boarder lining cool," Charlie said then took several steps back to get a better look.

" People from all over come to see the tree during the festival because it starts to glow. The only people who know why are the people who can use magic. It's this big because it's a magic tree, and once a year its magic is as strong as it gets till there's so much magic it starts to glow."

" Awesome," Charlie said then touched the tree again. He felt the energy then let it go again. " Do you get affected by it at all?" Charlie asked.

" Not that I've noticed," Sayo said then floated above Charlie. " But I wish I could use magic like you and Negi, there has to be a spell that helps me at least be seen or heard," Sayo said sadly then drifted back to the ground. Charlie leaned against the tree and started to think.

" Wait a sec, all you need is the ability to use magic right. Well, I could give you that, and once you're able to use it, it's possible you can take in magic from the tree or myself and become visible," Charlie explained then looked at her.

" Really, how can I do that?" Sayo asked.

" A pactio," Charlie said then smiled at her.

" That's all, okay then," She said then flew in and placed her lips on his the best she could. Charlie laughed and she flew back, " What?"

" Can I actually make the seal on the ground first?" Charlie asked sarcastically. Sayo smiled then nodded. Charlie muttered something under his breath then snapped his fingers. The image appeared on the ground and began to glow around them.

" Can I kiss you now?" Sayo asked. Charlie nodded and a moment later the seal grew bright, extending light in all directions. A card hit the ground between them and Sayo drifted away for a moment.

" Can people see me now?" Sayo asked.

" Go find out," Charlie said with a smile. Sayo smiled back then flew away to see if it work. " Good luck Sayo."

" That was awfully nice of you," A voice said from behind Charlie. Charlie turned around and saw a girl behind him. She looked about ten years old, with flowing long blond hair, penetrating green eyes with a new red circle around them, and a red dress. Charlie lost his voice with one glance at her.

" You," Charlie managed to say ten seconds after he turned around.

" Me, we've met before. Did I kill someone you knew, I'm sorry if I forgot, I kill so many people it's hard to keep track," the girl said then started to walk closer to him. When she was about five feet away she stopped and looked at him.

" Oh, I remember you now. You're the bastard who killed my golom with that girl. Where is she by the way?"

" Six feet under," Charlie said then gripped his hand into a fist.

" That little stab in the chest actually killed her. How pathetic," the girl said then started to look at the tree.

" I can't believe my travels took me five years to come to Japan. I didn't think anything would be interesting about this place. But god damn just check out this tree. It's so big you could probably cut it down and supply the world with paper for a year. Goodness," She said then smiled at it.

" Why are you here, and what are you exactly. Most demons aren't human by appearance," Charlie said then kept glaring at her.

" I'm here for the tournament. The perfect chance to hone my skills. Who and what I am is a special kind of demon. You've heard of the term parallel dimensions have you not?" She asked.

" Sounds familiar, but for shits and giggles do explain."

" This is the earth dimension. Another dimension, the one I'm from, runs parallel to this one. The demonic dimension, where naturally demons come from. There are the hell demons, the ones you summon and they come forth to aid in battle, but we are not the same. I'm what you would call a demonic opposite. Every person in this dimension has an opposite in mine. Even you. As you may have notice I strike a resemblance to Evangeline, naturally I'm her opposite. The evil twin if you will."

" That's hard to imagine considering Eva's evil to begin with," Charlie said then took a step toward her. " Is your name Eva as well?"

" No, my name Enilegnave, or Ave for a nickname. You might have noticed that's Evangeline backwards, and Eva backwards. Hardly a coincidence. Now before you ask, I'm also a vampire sorts, except I don't drink blood."

" What do you drink then?" Charlie asked.

" Life energy," Ave said then raised her hand to a flower. Slowly the flower began to wither and turn black. The petals slowly feel off and hit the ground, shattering into ash.

" Everything I come into contact with is slowly drained of its energy. Naturally I'm a great deal stronger than Eva because of this. For the last five years after I broke through the barrier of the dimensions, I've been traveling, and draining the strongest warriors."

" So, the tournament's just a big energy drink. One punch at a time you'll be unknown to them draining them to the last drop," Charlie said, slowly figuring out her plan.

" Precisely," Ave answered then stepped toward him. Charlie stood his ground as she took another step. " After our last encounter I'd figure you'd take a step back."

" I'm not scared of you," Charlie said to her bluntly.

" Well, that's something we'll have to work on," Ave said before she seemed to vanish for a second. Suddenly Charlie fell to a knee and was holding his gut like he was just shot. " Did you even see me?"

" Damn that was fast, I don't have to blink to miss her," Charlie groaned then pulled himself back to his feet. Ave smiled then sent Charlie against the world tree hard and let him slide to the ground.

" You've gotten better I'll admit. How many hits did it take to drop you last time, and you're still walking so I have to give you an A for effort," Ave said then picked him up by his collar. Charlie grabbed her neck a moment later and then suddenly felt weak.

" That's the idea, just give me your energy," Ave said then threw him down the stairs surrounding the tree till he hit the bottom. Charlie pulled himself to a knee only to get kicked in the back and rolling up, then partly down the steps again.

" I'll leave you alive for now, but remember, I've warned you," She said then disappeared into thin air. Charlie pulled himself to his feet painfully then started to limp toward the campus of the school.

Charlie wobbled through the streets of Mahora in pain trying to get back to the dorms to find Negi. Several times he fell against a wall panting deep while trying to stay conscious. Soon the dorms building was in sight and all he had to do was get through the plaza with the several large flights of stairs.

Nodoka was walking with Yue and Negi when she saw him at the top of the stairs. " It's Mr. Nathen," Nodoka said then pointed at him. When they all looked all they did was see him topple over and roll down the flight of stairs till his body crashed to the ground unconscious.

* * *

Charlie woke up in a bed in the school infirmary with people talking around him. He opened his eyes then tried to lay up but grunted when he noticed it hurt to even attempt that. Yue and Nodoka turned their head and saw him trying to stand before Yue shoved him back to the bed.

" Oh no you don't, stay in bed," Yue said then pressed him to his bed.

" What happened to you?" Nodoka asked.

" It was her, the demon girl," Charlie said then tried getting up again. Yue pushed him down again and when he tried a third time Nodoka pushed down the opposite shoulder.

" Wait, the one who killed Noelle?" Yue asked.

" She's here," Charlie said then pushed them back and got out of his bed. " Is the tournament signing still open?" Charlie asked.

" For another two hours," Yue answered, " Why, you can't fight like this."

" I'll be fine, I'm signing up," Charlie said then started to leave the room.

" She's entering isn't she. That's the only reason you want to enter," Yue said then ran over to him. " It's childs play. She just threw you around like a rag doll, and you can't even beat Eva in her weakest state. You can't win."

" I don't have to win. I just want to fight her. Just one good punch would make me happy," Charlie said then opened the door. When he did a few girls ran by.

" Ghost!" One of them shouted. Charlie laughed then left the room.


	15. Preliminaries

"It seems like we won't have to push her back a grade after all," Charlie said to the dean while he handed her Yue's grade reports. All of her classes had been brought back up to c range, and she even got better grades for participation.

"It seems you're right Mr. Nathan, very good. By the way, earlier this month a break in was reported in the permanent records. After a check of inventory, nothing was stolen, but something was put out of place. Next time you feel like you have to take things into your own hands, put Yue's record back in the right order," dean Konoe said then ran a finger through his beard.

"I'll remember that next time," Charlie said then crossed his arms.

"I really should let you go for directly violating the policy, but it seems you did make a drastic difference. Just between you and me, this never happened, understood?" Konoe asked.

"What never happened?" Charlie asked, simply playing along.

"Have a nice day," Konoe said before Charlie bowed slightly then left the office. Konoe smiled then looked at Yue's reports again. He had no idea what Charlie was doing, but if it was working he really couldn't care less.

* * *

Charlie knocked on Yue's and Nodoka's door then leaned against the wall for someone to answer. Haruna was the one who did who just shrugged then let him in. Charlie kept his shoes on, not planning on staying long. Yue wasn't back from her shift at the library, but she'd be there before the opening ceremonies of the festival. Nodoka was at her desk trying to write something when she turned her head and saw Charlie on the couch.

"Morning professor Na..." Nodoka started before Charlie sighed.

"Don't call me professor, my name is Charlie. Professor makes me sound like I'm a real teacher. I'm just an assistant for now," Charlie said then looked at the floor. He found it strange that he used to live in this room.

"I see you've kept my bed nice and made," Charlie said then bounced on it once.

"Hasn't moved at all, though Yue enjoys having the couch again," Nodoka said then looked at her desk.

"I bet she does," Charlie said then stood up, "Well, I need to go, I'll just find her later."

"What do you need Yue for?" Nodoka asked.

"Just to tell her that the dean isn't going to hold her back a grade. She pulled her grades up," Charlie said then stretched.

"She did, I knew she was smart if she'd only try," Nodoka said then stood up off of her chair.

"Can I ask you a question?" Nodoka asked. Charlie just looked at her, trying to figure out the question before she asked it. Once he figured out he couldn't, he just nodded.

"Is it, alright, for someone, to like two people?" Nodoka asked slowly. Charlie raised an eyebrow at her then sat on the couch to think.

"I suppose so. But in the end it's up to the person to decide on their own who they want to be with. You should always have a first choice, then a fallback plan. You may not get the best guy, but there's always the silver medal. Who know's, the fallback guy might end up being the better choice in the end. Can I ask, why you asked?"

"You see, Professor Springfield, I umm," Nodoka struggled to say.

"You love him,"Charlie finished.

"What?" Nodoka asked stupid, then looked at him and knew he wasn't fooled, "Is it that obvious?"

"Oh yeah," Charlie said then smiled, "Too much competition for the first guy, so you want to ask about the second right?" Charlie asked. Nodoka looked at her feet, then slightly nodded. "Who's the second guy?"

Nodoka looked up then stared at him for five seconds before looking at the ground again. Charlie sighed then shook his head.

"I see," Charlie said then walked over to her, "Nodoka, I'm not good with that sort of thing, and I think it'd be a lot better for you to date someone a little more your age," Charlie said while he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her.

"You're more my age than Negi is," Nodoka said, "You and I are only a year apart, me and Negi have a four year difference."

"I mean, experience wise. Look I've had some bad luck with relationships. The first girl I ever told I love you to, died because I screwed up. I can't put someone else through that, or myself," Charlie said then let her shoulders go, then used his finger to raise up her chin to look at her face.

"I'm doomed to be alone, everyone else after Negi is smarter, more developed, better looking, fun, interesting. I'm just the bookworm, and that's all I'll ever be. The lonely bookworm who runs away from everyone," Nodoka said sadly then started to cry a little. Charlie used the sleeve on his shirt to wipe the tear before they reached her chin.

"Negi is still just a little kid. That's something you need to consider. You feel like unless you get his attention now, you'll never have a chance again. That's not true. Negi is at the age I was avoiding girls, trust me on this, someone as cute as you will catch up with everyone else after his heart by the time he realizes he likes girls. You have plenty of time."

"I know, but I also have to consider Yue's feelings for Negi. Sure I want to win, but I also don't want to lose Yue. Even if I don't win, I'd be happy for Yue, and I'd still be her friend, I hope it turns out that civil. I don't want to lose a friendship with someone."

"It's hard to lose anyone in anyway, but sometimes the most civil thing to do is just letting them go. You don't like to have to choose Negi or Yue, and you think just giving up is the best solution. If Yue is really your friend, I'm sure she'd still be your friend if you won. This isn't just a hard decision for you, I bet anything Yue is having just as much trouble with it."

"You really think so?" Nodoka asked.

"I do. Just do what feels right," Charlie said then patter her shoulder before turning around. Nodoka smiled to herself then sat on her chair again.

"Thank you," She said before Charlie reached the door. Charlie nodded to her then left the room.

* * *

Since coming to Japan Charlie had managed to get into two fights, and got the crap kicked out of him. Both fights left him unconscious and waking up in a bed sometime later. The next few fights he'd be involved in were going to be voluntary.

Negi and Charlie walked through the crowded and boisterous streets of Mahora at the heart of the festival. Costumes of all shapes and sizes were accompanied with floats, small parades, shops, shows, and ticker tape falling from the roof tops. Last year the spectacle left Negi in awe, and this year it was no different. Charlie just walked with his hands in his pockets while watching the festivities.

"Pretty impressive isn't it?" Negi said to Charlie who was still looking up and brushing ticker tape off of his shirt.

"Gotta tell you, this is a first for me," Charlie said then watched the blimp fly over head.

"Last year was insane. I live this day so many times to see everything, so this year I managed to make it more workable," Negi said before someone tapped his shoulder to get his attention. Negi turned around and saw a girl standing behind him. She had rosy cheeks, and little buns holding up her hair on either side of her head.

"Chao?" Negi asked. Chao nodded then bowed once to him.

"How's the school year going?" She asked then looked at Charlie, "New friend?"

"Old friend actually," Charlie said then bowed to her, "Names Charlie, I've been Negi's assistant teacher since the start of the term."

"Finally have a little help it seems," Chao said then looked at Negi again.

"It really does make things a whole lot easier for me. So, why are you here, aren't you supposed to be in your own time?"

"Figured I'd stop by for the festival, don't worry I have no evil plans this year, just a spectator," Chao said then showed Negi the watch hanging around her neck.

"Wait a minute, you're Chao. Last year you tried revealing magic to the entire world," Charlie said once he remembered why her name sounded so familiar.

"My reputation proceeds me," Chao said with a smile then started to walk again. "How's Ku, Satsuki, and Satomi."

"Fine, it's been quite a productive year all around with Professor Nathan's help," Negi said. Chao's eyes found their way to Charlie and she stopped.

"That's why you look familiar. So, you're his great, great..."Chao started then stopped herself, "Never mind, forget I said anything."

"Wait what?" Charlie asked then jogged after her when she started to walk again.

"I'm not even supposed to be here as it is, so talking about your descendants isn't really a great idea of keeping the time line in order. Yours and Negi's descendants are close friends, and I'm Negi's descendent so I know people related to you a hundred years from now."

"That's weird," Charlie said then looked at the blimp that hovered above them. On the side of it was something about the tournament that would start within the hour.

"Are you both entering the tournament?" Chao asked.

"Yeah," Negi said then looked at Charlie who nodded.

"See you both then, I'm not competing, but I wish you both the best of luck," Chao said then left the two after bowing.

"She's actually a really nice girl when she isn't trying to screw over the magic community," Charlie said then looked down the street, "At this rate, we're going to be late, let's move."

* * *

"Welcome to the preliminaries of this years Budokai Martial Arts Tournament. I Kazumi Asakura will your announcer once again. Last years tournament blew the audience away and this year shouldn't be any different. Like last year the preliminaries are eight king of the ring fights, the last two standing advance to the actually tournament. Will the fighters in the first group please enter the ring to start the tournament," Kazumi shouted from center ring.

Charlie was amongst the first group to enter the ring. Charlie walked with his hands in his pockets, the only person seemingly not dressed to fight. Every man in the ring was anxious for action and acted like they actually had a chance to win this thing. A large man, the largest in the group approached Charlie and looked down at him.

"Hey kid, you're going to be the first one out of here, count on that," The man said with a monstrous deep voice. Charlie didn't react, he just stood there bored.

"Fight!" Kazumi shouted. The large man lunged at Charlie who just side stepped away from the punch. Before he knew it, Charlie punched him in the stomach three times, then sent him crashing into the side railing and into the water with one kick.

Charlie lowered his foot then looked at the people around him who saw what he did. They looked at him scared and baffled that he just effortlessly annihilated that man. He took one step toward them and several of them took a step back. Charlie smiled then punched a man out of the ring, then jumped over a poor attempt to take him out. He landed behind a man and grabbed his shoulders, rolled back and launched him out.

Getting back to his feet he sent anyone who charged him flying out of the ring, or slamming against the hard ground completely beat. Several of the men charge him at once to over power him, but all were knocked back when Charlie charged back and took each out with one hit. He heard someone behind him so turned around quickly and punched, hitting fists with Ku, knocking both of them back. They just smiled at each other then nodded, making an unspoken truce to leave each other alone.

After only a good three minutes Ku and Charlie and sent everyone away or out. The crowd cheered as Kazumi called the fight over and announced the victory to Ku and Charlie. The two walked off smiling and talking about the fight as medical crew was moved in to get the bodies of the injured.

* * *

The final preliminaries were over and Charlie had left hours ago to find Yue. She couldn't be found so he went back to the tournament grounds. Before he got in his phone rang and Negi was calling.

"Yeah?" Charlie asked.

"Get in the infirmary now, we need all of the help we can get," Negi said while he was running.

"Whoa what happened?"

"Just get here," Negi said then hung up.

"This can't be good," Charlie said then started to jog to the infirmary.

Doctors and nurses ran frantically in the room trying to keep the fighters stable. Every bed was filled and the injured were being placed on anything soft. Charlie saw Negi and a few others around a bed that Asuna was laying in unconscious.

"Who the hell did this?" Charlie asked.

"That girl," Eva said then looked around, "They didn't have a chance. The only person to get out of that fight besides her was Mei, and that's only because she was smart enough to stay out of her way."

"How is she?" Charlie asked Negi.

"I'm just glad she's breathing, she just wouldn't stop attacking her. She sent Asuna to the ground full force. What the hell is she, it was inhuman."

"She's a demon," Eva said to everyone, "Charlie knows her it seems."

"Ave is her name," Yue said from behind everyone with Nodoka, Chisame, and Haruna. "She killed Charlie's partner three years ago, she's a demonic opposite she said."

"No wonder she's so strong," Eva said then crossed her arms, "Took her long enough to show up. Just didn't think she'd show up here of all places. Don't take her lightly, because it will kill you."

"I know," Charlie said then leaned against the wall.

Preliminary Results- Person means random winner

Group one

Charlie vs Mana

Kotaro vs Person

Kaede vs Ku

Takahata vs Person

Group two

Ave vs Takane

Mei vs Setsuna

Eva vs Albireo

Negi vs Person Round one starts next chapter.


	16. Round One

After the infirmary was under control after Ave's attack Charlie and Yue left together to talk. Nodoka walked with them for most of it, but she stopped so they could talk about her school work. Charlie and Yue walked out of the area of the crowded tournament before the first match. Yue sat on the bench as Charlie opened his pocket and handed her a folded up sheet of paper. Yue read it over to herself then crumpled it into a ball and threw it in the trash next to her.

"See what happens when you try?" Charlie asked her. Yue nodded then looked at the ground.

"I didn't do it for you," Yue said then looked back up at him.

"I don't care why you did it, I'm just glad you did. You're a lot smarter than you know, whether or not you see it. By your test grades, I've established you can teach half of your classes."

"Yeah, well," Yue said then sighed, "It beats repeating the grade."

"Just finish school, it's all you got to do. Just get a diploma, because when you do that, you've already gotten further than I have."

"You didn't graduate highschool?" Yue asked.

"I did, I didn't go to highschool. I'd be a junior now, but I decided to study more in junior high and just take a g.e.d. test. So when I graduated in Wales, I also graduated from highschool. Gotta head start, and I regretted it."

"Why would you regret getting a head start?" Yue asked.

"School isn't just a place to make the first establishment in your life. It's much more than a building filled with books and teachers. I missed the soap opera of highschool, the worrying the cars, being cool, getting dates. I missed it. Regretted, regretting I should say."

Yue looked at the ground then leaned into the bench. She looked up at him again then looked at the crumpled paper in the trash. It was only a sheet of paper and yet what it said on it made her feel like she had accomplished something. A feeling she hadn't had in quite some time.

"Since my grandfather died the summer before sixth grade," Yue started then looked at Charlie, "I haven't cared about much of anything. I withdrew from everything and everyone. My grandfather was a philosopher, so I read books all day to be like him. He taught me a lot growing up, and I idolized him, then one day, my dad said he died," Yue said then looked at her feet. A few shallow tears had risen up and she didn't want him to see those.

"So, you kind of just gave up?" Charlie asked.

"In a way, yeah. Everyone was trying to help me. My parents just thought I needed therapy, so sent me every week. I didn't need a god damn therapist. I needed help, I needed someone to tell me he's gone, just believe it. Life is too short to cry and be miserable about everything, and no one told me. You did."

"When in the hell did I tell you to stop being miserable?" Charlie asked, pretty sure those words never came from him. At least not directly.

"You didn't say it, but you showed me. I lost my grandfather, just my grandfather and look at me. I'm a whiny little cry baby about everything. I'm so scared to fail now, I don't try. Then you came, and showed me that it's not worth it. Yes you should feel bad, you should cry, but you can't let it consume you. You lost a lot more than I did. You're parents died, then your partner, and yet, look at you. Mr. Smiles."

Charlie chuckled then smiled at her. It was an amazing feeling Charlie suddenly had. He had helped her, and he hadn't a clue until then. Smiling to himself he looked at the ground then back at her.

"First round's starting soon, you gonna get in there, you are up first after all," Yue said then patted his back.

"I'm fighting Mana," Charlie said then stretched.

"She's tough, be careful," Yue said then stood up with him.

"Don't worry about me," Charlie said then started to walk back. Followed him and turned into the spectators seating while Charlie walked into the fighters entrance.

* * *

"You're fighting Mana, two things to watch out for. One, she's a range fighter. Try to keep her in close proximity. Once she's got the distance, it's hard to move in," Ku explained while Charlie sat on the bench.

"You fought her last year right?" Charlie asked Ku.

"Yep, and she broke my arm with a five hundred yen piece. That her weapon, coins. Can't shoot you so she flicks large metal coins at about the same speed, so it feels like you're being shot anyway," Ku said then continued pacing.

"So don't get hit by coins and move in as fast as possible?" Charlie asked.

"Correct," Ku said.

"Will the fighters please enter the ring," Kazumi asked from the center ring. Charlie took in a deep breathe then stood up. Ku nodded to him then patted his back.

"Keep your guard up, end it quick," Ku said as he last piece of advice. Charlie nodded then walked into the light and tickertape. Mana appeared from the other side of the entrance, and bowed to him. He bowed back then they walked shoulder to shoulder to the ring. In less than twenty seconds they were standing face to face twenty feet away with Kazumi leaving the ring so the fight could go on.

"Here it folks, the first round of the tournament. First up we have Professor Negi Springfield's personal assistant who surprised us in the preliminaries. And we have last years contender Mana Tatsumiya who was eliminated first round last year in a two way elimination with one of our former champions Ku Fei her being unable to continue. This should be an interesting fight folks, so lets get it underway," Kazumi said then looked at the cheering crowd.

Mana smiled then readied something in her hand. Charlie stood ready to avoid anything.

"Fight!" Mana flicked the coin inhumanly fast, striking Charlie in the dead center of his forehead, sending him flying backwards to his back. The crowed cheered as his shoulder blades struck.

"Deja Vu folks," Kazumi said to the crowd.

"Deja Vu?" Negi asked Ku.

"Same thing happened to me last year," Ku said with a smile, "He's fine, just a little dizzy."

Charlie wasn't moving on the ground at all.

"Ten," Kazumi said to the audience that started to cheer louder, "Nine."

"Get up dammit!" Yue shouted from next to Nodoka and Haruka.

"You're enthusiastic," Haruka said to her.

"Eight...seven...six," Kazumi said with a pause between each for suspense. Unseen by the crowd Charlie gripped his hand around the coin that hit him. "Five...four."

Charlie struck by flicking the coin straight back at her, hitting her in the same place. Mana shocked, wobbled to regain balance, and when she looked up again, Charlie was in front of her with his hand cocked back for a punch. There was no way to avoid or block it, so Charlie struck her in the face full power, propelling her straight through the guard rails of the ring and crashing into one of the pillars standing out of the water.

A cloud of dust erupted from her impact as Charlie smile to himself then rubbed his head. "Do you have any idea how much that hurt. Am I bleeding?" He asked then checked his head, "Yep I'm bleeding," he said when he saw a small dab of red on his hand.

Suddenly coins shot out from the dust, the first hitting him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and making him drop to a knee. Another struck him in the shoulder, the third skimming his right cheek and cutting him. One was going for his head but Charlie caught it with his right hand, hearing a loud crack as he did. He grunted as he caught it then stood up and chucked it into the dust. Another broke through the dust and struck him in the thigh, dropping him to a knee again.

"Two can play at that," Charlie said then punched the floor hard. It made an instant crack that shot up with a dust cloud of debris rising around him, cloaking him from the audience and Mana.

"Smart," Mana said then covered herself as the dust shot passed her. She couldn't hear him with the mixture of the crowd, and figured he had a general idea of where she was when the coins came.

"He might actually get her in the dust," Kaede said to Kotaro, "Just because your opponent is stronger, doesn't mean you can't be smarter. Play at their weakness. Mana has to know where he is, but now she doesn't and her advantage has been flipped. He's clever."

"Whatever you say," Kotaro said then leaned against the railing.

Mana landed in the ring that was still covered with the dust that was started to fade with the wind. She could make out the ring, the rails, Kazumi, and the large hole from Charlie's strategy.

"Where is he?" She asked aloud silently.

"Right here," Charlie said from behind her. Mana's eyes widen in shock as she felt his fist into her back immobilizing her. He then kicked the back of her knee, dropping her to her knees then he struck her in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious.

The dust cleared enough a minute later for the crowd to start cheering the site of Mana on the ground. Kazumi started to count and ten seconds later Charlie sat on the ground and sighed. He looked at his bloody right hand and hid it when the medical team came out to get Mana.

* * *

"Hold still," Ku said as she wrapped his hand up with a roll of bandaged tape. Charlie bit down onto his shirt and grunted as Ku pulled the tape tight, cracking his bone into place. His face turned red and his eyes pinched shut as Ku pulled once more to finish it.

"Son of a bitch that hurt!" Charlie shouted then kicked a chair across the room.

"At least you won," Ku said to him.

"At what cost. I can't fight with a broken hand. I could heal it, but healing isn't my specialty. I more likely to make the bone vanish than actually heal it."

"That's it folks, in a matter of seconds Kotaro is victor," Kazumi said after Kotaro beat someone who was lucky enough to get that far in the tournament.

"I'm up," Ku said then patted his hand, "Find Kunel Sanders, he healed my arm last year," Ku said then started to walk into the ring. Charlie sighed then walked out to watch the fight.

Ku was up against Kaede. The crowd equally for both of them as Kazumi shouted fight. Both took a stance immediately, smiled at each other, then charged. It was an intense fight, the crowd awing at it's brilliance. Kaede created several clones of herself that converged on Ku at the same time. For a moment Ku wasn't seen until a moment later when she reappeared swinging a clone by her leg and flung her at another clone.

Kaede sent Ku across the ring and into the side of the ring above the water. Ku pushed off the wall and her fist collided with Kaede's check, sending her to the opposite wall. Dust shot out and three Kaede's appeared from the debris. One went left, right, and the other went straight at her. The first was blocked, the second avoided, but the center went right on target and hit Ku in the stomach. As she flew back the first clone launched her back to the second clone that knocked her in the air. The real Kaede with both fist cocked behind her head swung straight into Ku's back launching her straight to the floor. When the dust cleared Ku hadn't moved.

Ku struggled to get up but she couldn't before the time ran out. Kaede helped her up and crutched her out of the ring while the crowd cheered for both of them. Ku smiled at everyone then shrugged and Charlie who shrugged back. Kazumi and the crowd watched as the ring was fixed again for the next fight.

* * *

Takahata was up against a man who got lucky like Kotaro's opponent. The man was dropped in seconds and the next fight was put into the play. It was second group of contenders and the first match was Ave and Takane. The crowd cheered to see a fight and Kazumi said fight.

In the blink of an eye Takane was send sprawling across the ground painfully. Before she knew it, she was kicked by Ave into the guard rail and punched back into the ring, flopping to a stop. Already breathing in deep pain and struggling to get up, Takane looked at Ave as she slowly advanced.

"I expected more out of you," Ave said then kicked her into the opposite guard rail and let her fall. Takane shouted in pain as her back struck the railing, then grunted when her body hit with a thud.

Ave pulled her up by her hair then looked her in the eye. Takane punched but her fist a easily caught, and she was sent skipping across the water and crashing into the wall.

"What the hell is going on!" Mei shouted from the contenders box. Charlie watched as Ave began to slowly walk on the water to Takane who was stuck in the wall.

"Do you want it to end?" Ave asked. Takane just continued to gasp for air as Ave grabbed her by her neck and tossed her into the ring with a crash. Ave landed back and picked her up by her throat. She held her up in the air as she drained her energy then dropped her to the floor unconscious.

Kazumi started the count, finished and the medical team rushed in to get her. Ave walked pass everyone, but locked eyes with Charlie before she disappeared into the crowd.

"I'll make that bitch pay," Mei said aloud with her hands clenched in fists.

* * *

Once the repairs were done Setsuna and Mei started to walk into the ring. As Setsuna passed Charlie grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.

"End it fast, Mei is obsessed with revenge. She'll attack carelessly," Charlie said to her.

"I understand," Setsuna said then finished her walk with her deck broom in hand. Kazumi said fight and Setsuna sighed.

"Sorry," Setsuna said then quickly sent the broom at her forehead. The tip of the handle struck her dead on, and she fell to her back several feet away from her starting point. Charlie sighed while shaking his head as the countdown ended.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, next we have Evangeline against last years champion, Kunel Sanders. These didn't get to fight last year, so this is a highly awaited fight," Kazumi said as Eva and Alberio entered the ring.

"Kunel Sanders, that still bugs me you know," Eva said to him.

"If I win, you have to wear..." Alberio started.

"No bets this time. I'm not wearing a damn thing for you," Eva said then clenched a fist.

"Then it just takes the fun out of it," Alberio said then smiled.

"No," Eva said to him.

"Fine, I withdraw," Alberio said then started to walk off.

"What!" Eva shouted at him. Alberio just waved with his back turned and stepped out of the arena, "Get your ass back here you son of a bitch!"

Alberio stopped at the steps then turned around and said, "If I win you wear what I suggested last year. You know, the sailor coat with the swim suit, cat ears and glasses."

"That's ridicules!" Eva shouted at him.

"Do we have deal?" Alberio asked.

"You have to use your card to be Nagi," Eva said to him.

"I can't use it again, I already told you," Alberio said then stepped back into the ring, "Be more creative than wanting to see a man you claim to not love but try so desperately to see."

"Fine then, if I win...I get..." She said as she scanned the crowd and saw Negi. "Negi, I get Negi for my own personal reasons."

"What!" Negi shouted.

"Deal," Alberio said with a grin. Kazumi said fight and Eva charged fast. She swung but her wrist was caught an inch away from his face.

"You've gotten weaker," Alberio said then tossed her away. Eva smiled then pulled his arms up like a puppet with her strings. "Oh yes, I'm totally into bondage."

"Don't you take anything seriously?" Eva asked then bent him backward.

"No," Alberio said from behind her. Eva turned around then was flicked in the forehead by Alberio who had escaped and reappeared behind her. Eva wobbled back then rubbed her head as Alberio laughed while holding up a pair of car ears.

"You're helpless without your power, just put them on now," Alberio said. Eva punch at him but he stepped out of the way quickly then tripped her. As she fell he chopped her in the back, sending her to the ground.

"I hate you," Eva said as she brushed herself off.

"I know," Alberio said then held up the glasses, "Come on."

Eva grabbed the glasses then smashed them against the ground then punched Alberio in the stomach. He wobbled back as Eva punched him in the face, making him crash into the railing. With more anger than power Eva threw him to the ground and trapped him in strings again. With the strings she picked him up and slammed him against the floor several times before she stopped and looked at him.

"You'd look so cute, why not just wear..." Alberio started before Eva started to pound his body against the ring. A moment later his body vanished and reappeared on the other end of the ring. He was holding his card with Nagi as books began to hover around him.

"Let's see here..." Alberio said then started to browse, "Here we are." His body surrounded in smoke and when it cleared he was standing now as Eva.

"Why are you me?" Eva asked.

"Please, I'm not you," Alberio said then wrapped Eva in her own strings, "I'm the real Eva. The strong one."

"Let me go," Eva said bluntly.

"Why would I do that when I have you right where I want you. Helpless like usual," Alberio said then tugged on the strings, pulling on her limps.

"I'm not helpless," Eva said the pulled back on the strings, pulling Alberio right at her. She punched in the face full strength, sending him down and out. Eva's clone remained on the floor until after Alberio changed back and rubbed his skull.

"Well, that backfired," Alberio said then stood up and walked out of the ring. Eva looked at Negi and smiled, making Negi cringe.

"Sorry Negi, just fed you to the lions," Alberio said then saw Charlie.

"I saw that fight, how's the hand?" Alberio asked Charlie.

"Broken," Charlie said. Alberio placed his hand over it and it healed fully a moment later. Charlie removed the bandaged and squeezed. "Thanks."

"You're quite welcome. I'll be off," Alberio said then started to walk away till he vanished into the thin air.

* * *

Negi won his fight against an unworthy opponent with no hassle at all. Unlike Kotaro or Takahata, he let him last more than ten seconds. But after Negi was done getting his hopes up he sent him down and out just to end it. And with that victory ended the first day of fighting and the first round. After an overview and highlights from the fight everyone left but the fighters stayed in the stands.

"She's no doubt dangerous and powerful," Eva said from the seat next to Charlie.

"Setsuna, you're fighting her next, if things get bad, give up," Kaede said to her from the seat next to Ku and Charlie.

"I can't quit," Setsuna said to them.

"Takane is in critical condition, and she did that in about a minute. I know you're stronger than her, but Negi had some trouble beating her, and you lost to Negi. Once she's got the upper hand, throw the towel," Charlie said to her.

"He's right," Ku said. Setsuna sighed then looked at the replay screen on the blimp. Ave was beating Takane into pulp over and over again.

"Just play it smart, don't over do it. Remember what happened to Asuna?"Negi asked. Asuna kept charging Ave, and she hadn't woken up since. Setsuna nodded at everyone and let her eyes drop from the blimp.

"I hope I won't have to stop the fight," Setsuna said stood up. Everyone walked out together, ready to return for round two tomorrow.

* * *

Round Two List

Group One

Charlie vs Kotaro

Kaede vs Takahata

Group Two

Ave vs Setsuna

Eva vs Negi


	17. Round Two

The anticipation of the second day of the Mahora festival made it hard to get any sleep. However Charlie and Negi had no difficulty finding the time to get rest thanks to Eva's resort. Charlie opened his eyes and covered them right away with his hands. The sun was comforting and annoying. He sat up in the sand on the beach and let out a yawn. Near the water he saw Negi releasing a large amount of magic arrows like he normally did for training under Eva's watchful eye. Nodoka and Konoka were practicing their basic magic skills while Setsuna meditated on the top of a palm tree. Asuna was still recovering from the preliminaries.

"Oh come on you pathetic excuse for a wizard, we've been doing this for nearly a year and you can't muster one hundred without passing out. Why do I even bother with you!?" Eva shouted at Negi who dropped to his knees, panting with cold sweat dripping off his hair and nose.

"Go easy on him," Charlie said as he walked over with his hands in his pockets.

"If I wanted your opinion I would have asked for it, shut up," Eva said then glared at him.

"If I wanted to hear a bitch bark I'd kick you in the head," Charlie said then waited for Eva's reaction. Negi shook his head, just waiting for what ever was about to happen. Charlie blinked and when he opened his eyes a moment later was kicked in the head and sent skipping across the water till he finally splashed and started to sink.

"Figured he would have learned by now," Negi said then got to his feet.

"Did she just kick him?" Nodoka asked Konoka who just giggled and nodded.

"Seven skips, that beats my record," Konoka said then laughed.

"It's not funny, he might actually be hurt," Nodoka said then started to walk toward the water. When she reached the waves Charlie's head surfaced and he kept walking toward the beach while rubbing his head.

"What have we learned?" Eva asked.

"You hit a hell of a lot harder in here," Charlie answered then sat in the sand.

"And?" Eva asked.

"Don't piss you off unless I feel like being sent into orbit," Charlie said then felt his back hit the warm sand.

"Glad you learned your lesson. Alright kid, give me twenty, non verbal," Eva said then sat in the sand next to Charlie. Negi focused his thoughts and began to shoot magic arrows out to sea.

"Why do you push him so hard?" Charlie asked while trying to get the water out of his ear.

"It's the only way to learn. I train him in the fundamentals. He could learn every spell in existence, but without enough power and control it'd be pointless. His father only knew four or five spells, but he had more than enough power to compensate for it."

"So I've heard," Charlie said then heard the sand crunching from behind him. He looked behind himself by tilted his head as far as it would go and saw Yue standing over him.

"For some reason, your mail is still being put in my dorm rooms mailbox," Yue said then dropped a box next to his head.

"Is it here?" Charlie asked then got off his back and looked at the box, "From Anya, gotta love her," Charlie said then started to tear the box open.

"From Anya?" Yue asked then watched him open it, wondering what she sent him and why. Inside the box was another box more secured, and in that box, was a cooler bewitched to never need to refill with ice. Inside the cooler was a twelve pack of orange cream sodas.

"Negi, orange cream?" Charlie asked Negi once he finished. Negi turned his head and started to walk over.

"Where'd you get those?" Negi asked.

"A gift from home, you can thank me later," Charlie said then threw one at him. He handed one to Yue before she asked. New drink, of course she had to try it.

"You didn't ask Anya to send those did you?" Negi asked.

"I sent her money, I paid for them, and the shipping cost. I was tired of drinking water and tea."

"The school does have soda you know," Yue said.

"Not this kind," Charlie said then popped of the top, a cool white mist seeping out of the top of the bottle. Charlie smelled it, then took his first sip, and sighed with joy.

"I'll have to try this again later," Yue said once she took her sip, then saw Nodoka and Konoka walking over.

"Is it safe to give you sugar?" Charlie asked Konoka.

"Probably not," Konoka said with a smile.

"Here you go," Charlie said then tossed her a drink that she accept with a thank you. Nodoka just shrugged to answer his offer, and then couldn't pop the top off by herself. Yue just shook her head while Negi opening it for her.

"Set-chan, do you want one!?" Konoka shouted to Setsuna up in the tree.

"Soda doesn't agree with me," Setsuna said then continued to concentrate.

"Disgusting," Eva said after she tasted it.

"More for me then," Charlie said then took her bottle to finish it for her. Eva was surprised when he didn't even wipe off the top. "One sip isn't going to contaminate it," Charlie said when he looked at her face.

"You're too weird for your own good," Eva said then started to walk toward the spiral tower.

"Hey, there's only eleven, Anya couldn't help herself, typical," Charlie said then closed the cooler and finished his drink, then Eva's.

"Could you please send in for a change of address, I hate getting your mail," Yue said to Charlie as she sipped her drink, seemingly enjoying it.

"I did last week, should be changed by the weekend. It'll come in my teachers mailbox," Charlie said, since he didn't want Eva going through his mail. He knew she would.

"Anyway, you're fighting Kotaro, he's not exactly a pushover," Yue said to Charlie who just shrugged and stood up.

"I'm not that worried, he's pretty reckless. I can just hold my fist out and there's a pretty good chance he'll run into it on his own," Charlie said then brushed the sand off of his pants.

"He's not that reckless," Negi said, "He's stronger than you think."

"Let's hope so," Charlie said then started to walk to the tower carrying the cooler and the boxes.

"You got a plan to beat him?" Yue asked.

"Hit him, don't get hit. Seems pretty solid to me," Charlie said.

"You're so hopeless."

"Sue me."

* * *

Charlie was in the waiting room where only fighters and friends could be. Charlie was slowly wrapping his fist in white bandages since he didn't feel like breaking his hand again. Flexing both fists he sighed then looked over his shoulder to the door that lead to the ring.

"Asuna finally regained consciousness," Negi said as he ran into the room.

"Nice to hear, how's she doing?" Charlie asked.

"She can't get out of bed yet, but the doctor said she'll be walking by the end of the day," Negi said then stood next to Charlie.

"Konoka would help her, but the doctor won't leave her alone long enough to use magic," Negi said with a shrug.

"That's tragic," Charlie said then stretched with his arms straight in the air then cracked his neck.

"Nervous?" Negi asked.

"Never," Charlie said then started to walk toward the door.

"Will the fighters please enter the ring," Kazumi said over the microphone. Charlie opened the sliding door and closed it behind him and walked across the wooden planks that lead to the ring, Kotaro appeared from behind him and walked with his hands in his pockets.

"To start of the second round, we have new comer Charlie Nathan, an assistant teacher for Negi Springfield, and Kotaro Murakami who was defeated last year by the champion in the second round. Will he be able to go the third round this year?"

"This year Negi, it's a promise," Kotaro said then looked at Charlie who just smiled and shrugged.

"What're you smiling at?" Kotaro shot at him.

"You might want to make a promise you can keep," Charlie said then took his stance.

"I'll make you eat those words," Kotaro said.

"Try me."

"Fight!" Kazumi said, and a spilt second later Kotaro shot at Charlie full speed.

"Dumbass," Kaede said while shaking her head as Kotaro was sent back hard, slamming his back against the railing. Charlie chuckled then started to walk toward him slowly.

Kotaro kicked off the railing and swung straight. Charlie pivoted to the left and kneeled down, thrusting his body up as Kotaro passed over. The air was knocked out of his lungs as Charlie's shoulder rammed into his stomach, and was kicked toward the far railing, skipping on the ring and crashing into harder than before.

"He does have this under control," Yue said as she watched.

"Give up?" Charlie asked.

"Go to hell," Kotaro said then shot at him, appearing behind him.

'_Didn't see that coming,'_ Charlie thought to himself before he was sent chest first into the railing as hard as he sent Kotaro into it. As he hit it, Kotaro struck him from behind, breaking him straight through it. The hit sent Charlie bouncing across the water and crashing into the side of the arena, making a few spectators almost lose their balance.

"Spoke too soon," Yue said.

'_Not bad,'_ Charlie said then let his body fall into the water.

"Challenger Nathan is in the water, time to start the countdown," Kazumi said then started to count.

"Where are you coming out from?" Kotaro said then started to watch all around him.

"Three...four," Kazumi said slowly before four Charlie clones flew out of the water. They all merged in the middle at Kotaro who jumped in the air to avoid them.

"Aren't you predictable," Charlie said from above him. Kotaro could only watch as Charlie locked his hands together and sent both fist onto his back, propelling him straight to the ground. Before he hit one clone hit him at another. That clone hit him to a third who hit him to a forth, who sent him back up to Charlie who sent him into the side of the arena full power with a more powerful crash.

"Expect a distraction, I warned him Charlie was smarter than he is strong," Kaede said then sighed.

"Kids never listen," Takahata said with chuckle.

Charlie landed in the center of the ring and snapped his fingers, making the clones merge with him. A moment later he raised his arm up behind him and blocked Kotaro's round house. Kotaro's feet hit the ground and he took a swing at Charlie who shifted his body and grabbed his arm. Using his arm as leverage he rammed his knee into Kotaro's stomach, then kicked him in the back. Kotaro clipped the top of the railing and then splashed into the water again.

"Give up?" Charlie asked again.

Kotaro flew out of the water and landed on the side of the ring breathing deep from anger. He shouted as shadowy black wolves appeared around him and started to converge on Charlie.

"That's new," Charlie said then ducked as the first wolf pounced over him. The wolves jumped at him several times but could never connect so just started to run in a circle around him. Charlie was surrounded by a black haze, and he felt his feet leaving the ground. Now he was trapped in the gale.

Kotaro jumped over the top of the gale and shot straight down, hitting Charlie in the center of his back. Charlie's front hit the ring, creating a large crack under his body. Not a second after Charlie hit Kotaro slammed onto his back then threw him into the gale where he spun aimlessly. Using the wind to trap him, Kotaro relentlessly attacked Charlie for nearly a minute before he stopped the gale and sent Charlie at the ring with an even larger crash.

"Give up!" Kotaro shouted then laughed. Charlie's body twitched, then his arms pulled him to his knees, then back to his feet slowly before Kazumi reached four.

"Do you?" Charlie said then stood there. Kotaro smiled then laughed again.

"I'm surprised you're standing," Kotaro said then started to walk toward Charlie.

"He needs to end this soon," Eva said to Negi, "He's tough, but even you'd be struggling to get up after an attack like that." Charlie looked at Eva in the crowed, and winked at her. "What the?"

Charlie suddenly appeared behind Kotaro and held him in an arm lock. Kotaro tried to fight him, but Charlie held him firmly.

"Sorry about this," Charlie said then pulled back and rammed his knee into his spine. He pulled and pushed at the same time the twisted him over his knee, creating a disgusting crack that froze Kotaro's entire body. Charlie let Kotaro fall then started to walk out of the ring.

"One...two..." Kazumi started.

"Count to a thousand if you want, he's not getting up anytime soon," Charlie said, and waiting till the ten before he left.

"Pressure point, dislocated a lower vertebrae. He'll be embarrassed when he wakes up, lowering his guard like that," Kaede said with a sigh of disappointment. She expected more out of him. Takahata just shrugged and watched the medical team pick him up and carry him off.

* * *

"You had me worried for a moment there," Yue said as Charlie walked over to her, Nodoka, Konoka, and Haruna.

"Sorry about that, next up is Kaede and Takahata, this should be fun," Charlie said then leaned against the railing of the spectators box.

The moment Kazumi said 'fight' Takahata sent an invisible blow at Kaede, making her raise her arms to block it right away. The shot sent her back against the railing hard enough to crack it, not break it. Takahata sent three more shots at Kaede who dodged the first two, both turning the railing into splinters, the third hit her in the side, knocking her back. Recovering midair she landed on the railing and jumped up over Takahata.

While midair Kaede created four clones that charged him at once. Takahata smiled then jumped back away from them, hands in his pockets. Two of the clones were hit before they forced him to use his hands. The real Kaede connect a kick with his back, sending him across the water. Takahata soles hit the wall, and he propelled himself back to the arena, head butting a clone, leaving only one clones and the real Kaede.

Takahata landed behind the clone, and hit it with his specialty, leaving Kaede alone. Kaede moved in on him immediately after he attacked and swung, but Takahata jumped away straight above her. Kaede launched off the ground after him, with Takahata shooting at her. Though she blocked the shot, it sent her straight back to the ground.

Kaede focused her energy into her jump and launched herself at Takahata faster ten fold. Takahata's blast hit her, but didn't slow her down long enough to stop her from ramming him straight in the stomach. Spinning around his body she elbowed him in the back, sending him crashing to the ground. Before he could recover Kaede slammed into him, cracking the entire ring and shooting debris all around the arena.

"Dusty much," Charlie said while covering his eyes and coughing.

It took nearly ten seconds for the dust to clear but when it did, Kaede was down on one knee, trying to catch her breath. Takahata seemed to have not even moved.

"How a girl your age is as strong as you are is beyond me," Takahata said to her, then groaned. Kazumi finished counting and Takahata pulled himself to his feet.

"You could have gotten up," Kaede said, knowing he had just given her the win.

"It wouldn't matter, after that attack I know who would have won anyway," Takahata said then tucked his hands into his pockets and walked off of the ring. Kaede sighed then got to her feet and walked off as well.

* * *

"I hope Set-chan will be alright," Konoka said to Negi and Charlie as they watch Setsuna enter the ring. Ave walked in slowly behind her, grinning like she was going to enjoy this.

"I honestly think she should walk while she can," Charlie said while leaning against the railing.

"I know what you mean, Asuna's still struggling to breathe without pain," Konoka said then waited for the fight to get underway.

"Why is she even bothering, she gets stronger with every win, it'll just make it harder for the next one of us to fight her," Eva said as she walked over and sat on the railing next to Charlie.

"To Setsuna, she's just another challenge," Charlie said, Konoka nodding in agreement.

"Isn't that unfortunate for her," Eva said as the fight began.

Setsuna and Ave started their fight by staring at each other, watching their movements. Setsuna stood ready with the wooden sword, trying to judge when she'd attack. Ave shifted her body quickly, making Setsuna flinch in response.

"A little twitchy aren't we?" Ave asked with a laugh. Setsuna kept her focus, not letting Ave get to her. Ave smiled and aimed her hand toward Setsuna. It began to glow with a clear light, making Setsuna tighten her grip on the sword.

'_What is she doing?' _Setsuna asked herself.

"What is she doing?" Charlie asked Eva who sighed.

"This will be over in about five seconds," Eva said then pointed at Ave's hand, "That light isn't what you think it is. It isn't an offence spell, it's defensive. Though it isn't visible, Ave created a defensive shield with a three foot radios around her body. With her strength, the recoil of touching it is...you'll find out."

'_I need to get her before she finishes charging what ever that is!' _Setsuna said then did the last thing she should of. Charged head on.

"Oh shit," Charlie said then shook his head.

Setsuna raised her sword over her shoulders when she was three feet away and suddenly stopped in midair. The vibration of her hitting the shield made it visible for a moment before Setsuna eyes widened in pain. Ave laughed as Setsuna was shot across the ring, breaking through the railing, crashing through a pillar, then crashing into the side of the arena with plenty of debris along the way.

"Six seconds, my mistake," Eva said as she jumped off of the railing to leave the stands. "Coming Negi, we're next after all."

"It isn't over yet," Negi said.

"Trust me, it is," Eva said then started to walk away without him. Charlie looked at the spot were Setsuna hit the wall as the dust began to settle. After a minute Setsuna's limp body was seen in the wall, unconscious, and without movement. Her sword fell out of her hand dropped into the water, sinking into the depths. A moment later the pillar Setsuna hit collapsed into the water, creating a splash that sprayed the audience.

"Oh my god," Konoka said then started to run for the entrance of the ring. Kazumi finished her count and a medical crew in boat pulled Setsuna out of the crevice and stretchered her to the infirmary. Ave still stood in the center of the ring smiling then looked up at Charlie like she new exactly where he was.

Nodoka looked at Charlie then at Ave. "She's looking at you isn't she?" Nodoka asked.

"That was for me. She's trying to scare me, ain't working bitch," Charlie said to Nodoka who looked back at Ave. Ave laughed then shook her head at Charlie and walked out of the ring.

"Did she hear you?" Nodoka asked.

"Without a doubt."

* * *

Negi walked the bridge to the ring with Eva trailing a little behind him. The crowd was going nuts for Negi since his performance last year. Eva just walked down the bridge waiting for some action.

"Who do you think'll win?" Nodoka asked Yue.

"Negi, he's beaten her before, he can do it again," Yue said with a smile then looked at Charlie who didn't seem so sure. "You disagree?"

"He won by dumb luck last time," Charlie said then leaned against the railing, "He's only gotten stronger since then, but Eva is hands down stronger, even in her weakest state. In the end, depends solely on luck."

"He'll win, I have faith," Nodoka said then cheered for Negi, "Do your best Sensei!"

"Action is stronger than faith," Charlie said looked at Nodoka. She looked at him, then back at the ring to cheer. She didn't care what he said.

"I hope you're wrong, but then again, I know you're right," Yue said then sighed.

"Next is Negi Springfield who shocked us all last year with his second place standing, and Evangeline Mcdowell. Eva was beaten last year by Setsuna, who was in turn beaten by Negi. Should be interesting to say the least."

"Don't hold back boy," Eva said then crossed her arms, waiting to start.

"Don't hold back either," Negi said with a smile.

"I never have," Eva said.

"Fight," Kazumi shouted to everyone in the arena who was beaming with anticipation.

Negi decided to take the upper hand immediately and surprise attack Eva right away by appearing behind with a cocked fist. She wasn't very surprised and ducked under it. Negi's hand hit her hair as she twisted her body and round housed him into the railing.

"Any lesser opponent he would have nailed," Charlie said.

"He mastered shundô-jutsu," Kotaro said, "Surprised she caught on that fast."

"When did you get up?" Kaede asked.

"You actually almost got me," Eva said with a smile. Negi smiled back then pulled himself to his feet. He appeared behind her, and she spun around to hit him, he was behind her again.

"A double!" Kotaro said shocked, "Even I have trouble with that. That's a pretty ballsy stunt."

"Bravo bôya," Eva said then was sent sprawling across the ring. She bounced three times then landed to her feet, sliding across the ring for a few more feet before she stopped.

"Nicely done," Eva said then brushed the dirt off of her dress.

"Thank you," Negi said, waiting for her to strike back any second. Eva smiled then charged Negi. Negi smiled then charged her, converging in the center of the ring with a loud crack of the their fists hitting each other.

"You trained him nicely," Kaede said to Ku.

"He still lose, but I think he ready know that," Ku said to Kaede who nodded.

"It's a shame, he's come a long way."

After a long minute of dodging each other, Negi was sent sprawling but recovered and charged Eva, sending her sprawling. Eva recovered faster than Negi did and charged back, her shot missing Negi who countered but was blocked. The shot knocked Eva back, giving her no choice but to block the next three shots Negi delivered in less than five seconds. Eva used magic to push him back long enough to counter, hitting Negi head on.

Negi was sent bouncing across the ring till his back slammed into railing, and his body falling to ground on the side of the ring.

"Negi is out of the ring. One...two," Kazumi started.

"Come on, you got plenty more kid," Eva said with crossed arms. Negi jumped back onto the ring when Kazumi reached six then wiped the blood from his mouth that was running down his chin.

Negi and Eva charged again, but when she was close enough Negi appeared behind her and surprised her with a kick to the small of her back. Eva's charge plus the force of the kick sent her through the railing and into the water.

"She walked right into that one," Takahata said while lighting a cigarette.

Eva slowly surfaced and hovered over the water for a moment. She slowly drifted over the surface then touched down the ring smiling. She seemed very satisfied with that hit.

"Call me a pedophile, but she looks pretty sexy wet," Charlie said with a laugh.

"I worry about you," Yue said then shook her head, while Nodoka moved a few feet away.

"I agree, her hair seems to glisten more, making her look...well sexy," Konoka said, unaware of the sarcasm.

"I don't think it's me you need to be worrying about," Charlie said to Yue then gestured toward Konoka.

"I gave up on her a long time ago."

"This dress isn't supposed to get wet you know," Eva said to Negi then shook the water out of her hair.

"Sorry," Negi said.

"You are aware that the bet Albireo and I made is in full affect," Eva asked Negi. Negi eyes widened in shock and fear.

"What?"Negi asked.

"You have to go into your teenaged form, today, and tomorrow and escort me around," Eva said then smiled.

"I never agreed to that!" Negi shouted.

"You don't have a choice," Eva said then charged. The last statement left Negi speechless, and unfortunately motionless. Negi crashed to the ground hard, sliding to a stop at the end of the ring.

"That one hurt," Charlie said while cringing. Negi pulled himself up only to get rammed into the railing.

"Talk about insult to injury," Yue said.

Negi dropped to the ground, but Eva jumped down then threw him back into the ring. Negi got to his feet and the fight continued. What Eva said was making Negi lose focus, so it didn't even take another five minutes before Eva sent Negi down for the final time. Charlie shook his head then pulled himself off of the railing.

"Pity, I expected Negi to shrug that off," Charlie said then walked toward the waiting room since his next fight was coming up next.

"He lost," Nodoka said sadly.

"To Negi, it's never really about winning or losing," Yue said then patted her back.

"I just hope Ako doesn't see him in his teenaged form if Eva really makes him go through with that," Kotaro said with a laugh, "Both of them are in love with 'Nagi'."

Negi found the strength to carry himself out of the ring with his head down. The crowd cheered for his effort however, still happy to see his fight. Nodoka and the rest of the girls clapped for him, giving him enough spirit to lift his head high. When you lose, you win sometimes. Though Negi couldn't identify what he won exactly.

"You up right?" Ku asked Kaede who nodded.

"Kick his ass," Kotaro said to Kaede who just starting to walk toward the waiting room.

"We're going to take a half hour break everyone. But remember to come back, the semifinals are next!" Kazumi shouted, and loving the crowds response.

Negi reached the fighters only area and saw Asuna standing next to the wall. He would have ran, but that was hard, so continued to walk. When he got to her, he lowered his head in defeat.

"I lost," Negi said.

"I saw, you did your best, that's what counts," Asuna said then patted his head. Negi looked up at her, then back down.

"I'll tell you what, as long as you don't pull a pervert move on me, again, you can sleep in my bed tonight," Asuna said to him. Negi looked up at her and smiled. Then he hugged her, only to get pushed back. "Hey, people assume too much about us as it is, don't push it," Asuna said then walked into the infirmary with him.

"Negi-kun!" Konoka said running from the stands to meet him with Nodoka and the others.

"Are you alright sensei?" Nodoka asked.

"I'm alright, just need to walk it off," Negi said and walked into the infirmary with everyone else.

Charlie sat in the waiting room trying to come up with a plan. Kaede was in a different league than Kotaro, and Mana he didn't beat without a little luck. Kaede was a smart fighter, smarter than him, and stronger.

"I'd of rather fought Takahata," Charlie said, knowing Kaede was a much bigger obstacle to get his shot at Ave.

Round three

Group one

Charlie vs Kaede

group two

Eva vs Ave


	18. Round Three

"Well folks, we hope you've enjoyed the show so far, since next is round three and the semifinals. In the first division we have Charlie Nathan who's surprised us so far not with just his strength, but also his smarts. But has he finally met his match against Kaede Nagase?! We'll find out in just a few minutes!" Kazumi said to get the crowd excited. Didn't take much from the battles so far.

"I can't wait for that idiot to get his ass kicked," Eva said to everyone around her as she sat on the railing above the water in the competitors and friends booth.

"I think he can pull it off," Yue said while leaning against it with her arms.

"Kaede is stronger, faster, and smarter in battle. He's out of his league now," Eva said with a smile, and imagined how hard she'd laugh to see his body being tossed around like a rag doll. She was only mad it wouldn't be her doing it.

"Aren't you fighting that psycho bitch next?" Kotaro asked Eva who turned and faced him.

"I am, hard to imagine she's my demonic opposite. The evil twin," Eva said with a smile, trying to run that idea by herself again.

"How do we know you're not the evil twin?" Nodoka asked.

"Point taken," Eva said then looked at her, "I can't say I'm innocent, now can I."

"No, you can't," Yue said dully then looked at the ring again. She was doubting Charlie's ability while hoping he'd win.

One of the tournament employees ran up the walkway to Kazumi who looked at him confused. They exchanged talk, and Kazumi looked extremely shocked to say the least.

"What's going on?" Kotaro asked everyone.

"We'll find out," Eva said then looked at Kazumi as she raised the microphone to her lips.

"A truly unsuspected surprise, but Kaede Nagase has decided to withdraw from the tournament," Kazumi said, and heard the shockwave of surprise from the crowd. The crowd began to jeer, and everyone in the competitors booth looked at each other.

"Charlie Nathan advances by default, and he is in the finals," Kazumi said then began to announce the next fight.

"In division two we have Evangeline McDowell who was stopped in the quarter finals last year but Setsuna Sakurazaki. Her opponent is listed as only Ave, who most have agreed is practically her twin in appearance. Ave hasn't even spent a total of one minute in the ring, and has injured her opponents to medical emergency. It should be interesting to say the least."

"Finally, I get to talk to her," Eva said then kicked off of the railing and started to walk to the bridge to the ring.

"She's too excited if you ask me," Kotaro said then turned around and saw Charlie and Kaede walking out of the building to watch the fight.

"Why did you withdraw?" Kotaro asked, "I wanted to see him get his ass kicked."

"I have my reasons," Kaede said then stood with her arms crossed.

* * *

_**Minutes before...**_

Kaede entered the room as Charlie was trying to figure out how to beat her. After several minutes he couldn't think of a way in a fair or unfair fight. They looked at each other, and Kaede just shrugged.

"I want to make an agreement," Charlie said to her. Kaede looked at him questioningly.

"What kind?" Kaede asked.

"I want you to drop out of the tournament," Charlie said then stood up.

"Why?" Kaede asked.

"You and I both know that girl could be both of us with her eyes closed. We both know she's going to win no matter who she fights. Unlike you, I have a reason to want to fight her," Charlie said then waited for her to respond.

"Do you now, revenge?" Kaede asked.

"Something like that. She killed my partner. I know I'm not going to win, I don't have any delusions of victory. All I need, is one hit. And besides, you're stronger than I am, she beats you, she absorbs more, making her that much more stronger. With me, she won't even dent her full power."

"You want me to throw a fight, so you can lose? I'm missing the logic in that," Kaede said.

"I'm saying, you have no reason to fight her, no reason to lose. I have to do this, whether you let me, or somehow I force you , I'm fighting her," Charlie said then looked Kaede right in the eye. She smiled then nodded.

"Fine, just promise me sometime after the tournament, we'll face off, agreed?" Kaede asked.

"Fair enough," Charlie said then watched her leave the room to announce her withdraw.

"That was easier than I thought," Charlie said then sat down again.

* * *

Eva stood in the center of the ring waiting for Ave to show. For some reason, no one had ever seen Ave when she wasn't in the ring. Once her fight was over, she'd vanish, then come back when she had to. After a minute, Eva turned her head and saw her walking down the bridge in a white dress instead of her red, as if to oppose Eva's black. 

"White dress, this isn't a wedding," Eva said with a smirk.

"White, the color of death," Ave said with a smile that made Eva's drop.

"Creative," Eva said then waited for the cue, "So, how did you get through the boundary between dimensions?"

"It was easy actually, I just needed enough strength, and as you got stronger, I did too. I'd say, five years ago I broke through, and I've been stealing the life energy of any who oppose me, and the life energy of people just for fun. The life energy in this dimension is stronger ten fold to mine. I've gained more energy in five years, than in five hundred."

"If our lives are connected, why didn't I receive your strength?" Eva asked.

"Simple, our beings are no longer fully connected. When I crossed the border, I damaged our bond, the flow of energy that connects us as one. Our power may not be connected, but if either of us die, we both die, no border can change that. Even though our connection has be tainted, I figured you'd be stronger than you are, even if besides myself you're the strongest here."

"I have Nagi Springfield to thank for that. But don't worry, this time of year most of my power has returned. You should have been here last year, I was almost my old self thanks to the world tree. I won't be able to be that strong again for another twenty two years, or sooner if I break my seal of confinement.

"If you only escaped five years ago, why aren't your powers also sealed?"

"He sealed your powers inside of yourself, in the form of a ten year old. Though we are connected, I am not you, your body is sealed away from the powers, mine, is not. Do you wish to withdraw?"

"Let the fight begin!" Kazumi said and listened to the crowd cheer. A cat fight between ten year olds seemed like it would be fun.

"I never walk away from a fight. Besides, you can't kill me," Eva said with a smile.

"Who ever said, I'd kill you?" Ave said then charged before Eva could blink. Eva caught her in the strings, and Ave stopped a few feet from where she launched.

"Bad move," Eva said quickly then began to pull the string to pull Ave apart. Ave tugged back and Eva fought back to keep her contained.

"Do you think a net can stop me?" Ave said before she appeared in front of Eva. Before Eva could respond she crashed against the railing and fell to the ground. Ave grabbed the strings and used them to swing Eva into the railing on the opposite side of the ring.

"This is going to get ugly," Negi said as he watched Eva being slammed against the ground by her own strings. Before Ave could use them against her again Eva cut the strings then got to her feet.

"Why are you here?" Eva asked.

"I need power, simple as that. If I have it, I can pull someone else through. My love," Ave said then smiled.

"Demons love?" Eva asked.

"Does this surprise you? We are only as powerful as our opposites. If either of us have the capacity to love, we both do. Though I'm more successful than you, my love is returned, not denied."

Eva clinched a fist then glared at Ave who knew she hit something with that comment. Eva charged but before she was halfway there Ave had grabbed her by the throat and had pinned her against the railing.

"You love a man who does not love you, and then you allow yourself to take from his son what you couldn't from him. A kiss, something to motivate him, or yourself?" Ave asked.

Eva elbowed Ave in the arm to make her release her, and swung straight but had her fist caught. Ave twisted Eva's fist behind her back then slammed her face into the railing.

"The thousand master is a man I've never had the honor of meeting. You've had the honor however, and the misfortune. How do ten year old boys taste, sweeter than a man? Does sucking his blood weaken the seal, I'd imagine it wouldn't have any affect."

Eva used her free arm to elbow Ave in the face, and free her other hand. Eva struck Ave in the stomach, then sent her sprawling against the ring, but managing to recover before striking the far railing.

"Do you feel it, exhaustion, you're power leaving you?" Ave asked as she started to slowly walk to Eva.

"I know what you can do, I can do the same," Eva said then appeared behind Ave. Ave swung behind her, but missed Eva who ducked down and lunged. Eva bit into Ave's neck, sinking her fangs into her veins. Ave struggled to make her let go, but Eva was persistent. After nearly ten seconds, Ave used magic to send Eva flying into the air where she drifted up and looked down.

Ave felt her neck, and then looked at her hand. Blood had stained her palms and finger, and she could still feel it lingering down her shoulder.

"You bitch," Ave said felt the wound quickly healing. Eva smiled then wiped the blood off of her mouth, then licked her fingers to get the most out of it.

"You have the dirtiest blood I've ever tasted," Eva said then drifted back to the ring.

"All you did was steal your power back," Ave said.

"And more," Eva said then sucked the last drop of the side of her hand.

"I was going to let you walk off with dignity, now you'll be lucky to crawl," Ave said finished healing her neck.

"Be careful, I bite," Eva said with a grin before Ave sent her out of the ring over the railing. Ave holding Eva by her neck again slammed her into the wall. Ave used her other arm to hold her, but Eva bit into her arm and began to drain her as well. Ave let her neck go to strike but Eva released her arm and kicked off of the wall, tackling Ave into the air. When they were ove the ring Eva sent her crashing into the ring. As she landed she body slammed Ave again, then bit into her neck again.

Ave didn't let Eva's mouth stay connected for more than a second before she kicked Eva away. Eva licked her lips to get the left over blood as Ave stepped out of the crater they made. They clashed in the center of the ring, both attacking and blocking, being unable to have their shots connect.

"Well, she's doing better than everyone combined so far," Kotaro said to Kaede who nodded in agreement.

"She's taken more energy from Ave than Ave has from her. It's the only thing keeping the fight balanced," Charlie said as he watched Eva duck under a punch and counterattack. Ave blocked the shot, and then the two circled around each other.

"How long can she pull that off for?" Negi asked.

"Who knows, but in close proximity, Ave is still draining her, so Eva needs to get a bite in soon or she won't last for much longer," Charlie said then watched the two charge again.

Eva was the first one to have a hit connect. It was a counter attack to Ave's side that knocked her out of focus. Eva used that hit to force several more to Ave's body. After the third hit connected, Ave ducked under the forth and punched Eva in the stomach, making her drop her guard. Ave delivered another blow to Eva's stomach then jumped up and kneed her in the face. While in the air Ave grabbed Eva's ankle and began to spin her in circles ten feet above the ground. Eva shot an ice spell at Ave that connected, making Ave let her go, sending her crashing through the railing. Using magic she froze the water and slid to a stop.

"After last year, why is she using magic?" Charlie asked.

"She just doesn't care," Negi said.

"I can tell."

Eva slowly walked across the ice then walked through the hole in the railing and jumped back into the ring where Ave was still brushing the ice off of herself.

"Cold?" Eva asked mockingly.

"Only a minor discomfort," Ave said then made fire appear in her hand. Eva's palm began to glow light blue and then shot an ice spike at Ave who melted in on route.

"None of your magic will do much good against me," Ave said to prove her point. Eva made her palm go back to normal, and Ave did the same. The began to circle each other again, and Charlie just shook his head.

"Eva's power is running low now, Ave knows it. Could be a problem," Charlie said to Negi, and a moment later Eva and Ave converged, the result being Eva being grabbed by her throat. Ave slammed Eva onto the ice, creating a giant crack that trailed the entire sheet. Eva's body broke through the ice and Ave held her head under the water.

"Are your lungs burning yet, gasping for air that they will be denied?" Ave asked with a demonic smile as Eve hands grabbed Ave's wrists, trying to wrestle free.

"It's over," Charlie said with a sigh.

The cracks in the ice got bigger, and soon the ice began to break apart. The ice trembled as the water began to move like waved from where Eva was being submerged. The water erupted and Ave was sent into the air and sent crashing into the ring, creating a second crater. Eva landed in the ring and fell to a knee, water dripping off of her face as she gasped for air.

"She's up," Negi said.

"It was over whether she got out of the water or not. This will just drag it on for longer," Charlie said as Ave jumped out of the crater and sent Eva to her back. She pounded her heel into Eva's stomach then picked her up by her dress, and whipped her into the railing full force.

"Eva can't even fight back anymore," Negi said while clinching his fists in anger. He wanted to jump in.

Eva never screamed in pain as Ave continued to pound Eva. Eva fell to her face and tried getting up but couldn't find the energy to do so. Ave kicked her while she was down, and the crowd began to jeer. It wasn't a fight anymore. Charlie had finally seen enough and ran down the bridge and looked at Kazumi.

"What happens if I interfere on Eva's behalf?" Charlie asked.

"She's disqualified," Kazumi said then looked back at the torture.

"Thanks," Charlie said then charged into the ring. Ave lifted her hand up to strike Eva but was rounded housed by Charlie. Ave was sent crashing through the railing, and then straight into the wall hard enough to shake almost every booth watching.

"By interference, Eva is disqualified, making Ave the victor," Kazumi said as the dust around Ave began to settle.

"You should really learn when to throw the towel," Charlie said as she knelt down next to Eva.

"I didn't ask for you're help, nor do I want it," Eva said then tried to get up.

"Whether you want it or not, you need it," Charlie said then picked up Eva off the ground and began to carry her out of the ring.

"I'll see you in the finals," Ave said from next to Charlie.

"Looking forward to it," Charlie said back then began to walk away with Eva to the infirmary.

* * *

Eva was placed into a bed and was examined by Chachamaru for the extent of the damage. 

"Nothing is too severe master, but do try to stay in bed until you're healed. The peak of the world trees power should do most of the work," Chachamaru said then slid the blanket back onto Eva.

"I'm fine," Eva said then looked over at Charlie, "You didn't have to end the fight, she wasn't going to kill me. If I die, she dies."

"I'm not going to stand and watch anyone being mercilessly tortured."

"It's only torture if I feel pain," Eva said.

"If you couldn't stand by yourself, you need help," Charlie said then stood up from the chair. "My turn to get my ass kicked."

"Will you really be satisfied with one hit?" Eva asked.

"Trust me, that hit I gave her was worth it," Charlie said then remembered what it felt like to hit her. Then the exhaustion that immediately followed.

"You're tired," Eva said then sat up in the bed, "That isn't just from her draining you on contact, is it?" Eva asked then let her feet hang off of the bed.

"No, when she struck me down three years ago, she did something to me. Every time I use magic, I can't explain it," Charlie said then sighed.

"Every time you use magic, your own spell recoils against you. That's why you passed out after hitting me with that blast. When you fight, you're not using any magical enhancements, are you?" Eva asked.

"It would do more harm than help," Charlie said then shrugged, since he had tried it once and it nearly killed him.

"But you used one against her just now, and that's why you're tired. If you're as strong as you are without magic, imagine how strong you are with it. If you had magic you could've advanced without having to ask Kaede to drop out. You're so much stronger than you know," Eva said then smiled, "I think I can help."

"How?" Charlie asked.

"I might be able to cancel what she did to you, however, I only know one way of doing so," Eva said then looked to Chachamaru.

"Chachamaru, please create the pactio seal," Eva said then got off of the bed but continued to use it as a crutch.

"Kneel down," Eva said then wobbled over to Charlie, "I'm only doing this because I want to see how strong you really are, and with my power you'll be even stronger. My power is dangerous, it's stolen from hundreds of men and women, and because of it's diversity, it's unstable. My power could destroy your mind," Eva warned.

"I'll take that chance," Charlie said then knelled down in the glowing pink circle. Eva placed her hands on his cheeks and then looked at him.

"Shut your eyes," Eva said, and waited from Charlie to do so. When he did, the room lit up with a bright light, and a card landed between them. Eva picked it up and saw a picture of Charlie with his double side battle axe artifact he lost when Noelle died. It was slammed into the ground and Charlie had one foot on the blade as he leaned against the handle.

"It's a shame blades aren't allowed," Eva said then duplicated the card and handed the spare to Charlie.

"Adeat," Charlie said then caught the axe as it appeared, "Been three years since the axe died with Noelle, seemed so much heavier back then."

"I'll activate our contract before the fight starts, you'll know when I did. Stay in control of the power," Eva said then stretched, "I'm better now."

"That was quick," Charlie said then made the axe vanish. Charlie could hear Kazumi announcing the final match, so started to walk faster.

"I might manage more than one hit now," Charlie said with a smile.

"Let's hope so, for a kiss you better give me a better show than that."

* * *

_**Next is The Finals, Charlie vs Ave.**_


	19. Finals

"After two long days of combat we are a mere thirty minutes away from crowning this years champion. The finalist from section one is Charlie Nathan, who was automatically placed in the finals when Kaede dropped out of the fighting. In section two we have Ave, who has annihilated all but one of her opponents in seconds. Who will walk away with the title this year?" Kazumi said as Ave and Charlie entered the ring from opposite sides.

The audience was roaring with enthusiasm as Charlie stopped walking when he was ten feet away from Ave. The girls and Negi fidgeted around, not sure how this would end, and not exactly eager to see a friend get beat to a pulp. Nothing from Charlie indicated he was unwilling to fight her. Nothing he had seen early shook him, or made him want to withdraw. After everything he had seen her do to his students and friends, he still entered the ring knowing he didn't have a chance.

"He's going to lose, why is he even bothering," Asuna said like Charlie was a complete idiot.

"He needs to," Yue said, making Asuna turn her head.

"What do you mean?" Asuna asked.

"Ave killed the first girl he loved. He blamed himself for not being able to protect her. He knows he's not going to win. But if he doesn't face his fears head on, he'll never stop blaming himself. He felt like he could do so much more, and he needs to prove it," Yue said then looked at Charlie again as he closed his eyes to take in a deep breathe.

"It won't be over as soon as you suspect it to be," Eva said then held up Charlie's pactio card.

"His card his dead though," Nodoka said then looked at it closer, "Wait...with you?" Nodoka asked.

"Let's just say it'll make things a hell of a lot more interesting. If he can control my power at least," Eva said then sat on the railing.

"What do you mean by that?" Yue asked.

"I mean, I'm used to my powers. I'm evil, I have no delusion of that. Charlie isn't evil, and when you give a someone like him dark powers, it can have varied results."

"Give us an example?" Asuna asked.

"Well, basically, three things can happen. He'll control the power, and add it to his own without it disturbing his mental balance. Or, the power will control him ,and he'll become mentally unbalanced and possibly go on a killing spree, focusing his energy on those he hates. Thankfully that's a small list. Or, it'll just kill him."

"How can you say that so calmly," Yue said, suddenly extremely worried.

"I told you I was evil," Eva said then smiled, "Time for the show."

"Fight!" Kazumi shouted and crowd erupted.

"Contract activate, I'll give him five minutes for now," Eva said then snapped her fingers.

Suddenly Charlie stopped cold and gasped. He felt a splitting pain in his head, and voices screaming at him. Yelling at him with hatred, saying they'd never forgive him. The souls of the people Eva had killed thought he was her, and began to attack his mind, unlike Eva who had learned to tune them out. He felt his energy rise, but felt excruciating pain as it did. It was so overwhelming he began to shout in pain, stunning the audience.

"What are you doing to him!?" Yue shouted at Eva.

"Turns out he isn't strong enough," Eva said then shook her head.

Charlie fell to his knees as his body began to be cloaked with a black aura that drifted around him.

"Shut up!" Charlie shouted at the voices as they continued to scream and shout at him.

'_A devil like you deserves to die! We will never forgive you! Burn witch, burn!'_

"I'm not her!" Charlie shouted then tried to stand, but he couldn't move. He gripped his head in continued to scream.

"The voices reach even him. I've tuned them out after five centuries," Eva said with a smile.

"Voices?" Yue asked.

"One of the first people I sucked dry put a curse on me, that part of my victims soul would remain with me. Pure hatred is the part I got, so he has a couple thousand people shouting at him. You'd scream too."

"Is there anything we can do?" Yue asked.

"Nope, he's on his own," Eva said then continued to watch him scream.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ave asked then stepped over to him, "I like that energy you're emitting. Smells like corpses and ash, beautiful. So, you made a pactio with my opposite."

Charlie couldn't hear her over the voices of thousands. The ground beneath him crack and began to spread like a spider web. The aura got blacker, like a thick smog surrounding him. His heart was beating out of his chest, sweat was pouring down his face and tears were blinding his vision. His voice finally died and he rolled over on the ground trying to breathe and hold it back at the same time. He couldn't decide which was more important.

"You're killing him!" Nodoka shouted at Eva.

"She's right, stop the contract," Yue said to Eva who didn't address them.

'_Charlie, don't listen to them, listen to me!' _A voice shouted at Charlie that he was very familiar with.

"Ahh...No..elle?" Charlie asked panting and gasping.

'_Yes, fight them off, control it,' _Noelle's voice said to him over the others.

"I can't...there are too many, I can't...I can't shut them up," Charlie said while trying to pull himself up. Kazumi was too stunned to start counting, but realized she needed to.

"One," Kazumi said as Charlie reached his feet again, "He's up again, something is happening to him, medical team get ready."

'_Don't lose your mind to it, fight it, fight it!' _Noelle shouted over the voices, but was drowned out again.

"I...can't," Charlie said then dropped to his knees again.

"Who is he talking to?" Nodoka asked.

"Does the curse affect both of us?" Eva asked, since she knew it was Noelle.

"Both of you?" Yue asked.

"I think the curse I have on me, affects both Ave and I. Ave killed his partner, so now his partner is talking to him. I'm amazed he can hear her over everyone else."

'_Charlie, please listen to me...don't...it...over,' _Noelle said, but Charlie missed half of her words. He couldn't hear her anymore. Soon the voices blended together to taught him all at once. He rose to his feet again and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the shroud around him absorbed into his body and Charlie opened his eyes again.

"Oh shit," Eva said then smiled, "He lost."

"What?" Yue asked.

"He's not Charlie anymore, stand back, this could get out of hand," Eva said then waited for the show to finally commence.

"That was quite a display," Ave said then clapped her hands, "Who's in control, you or that power?" Charlie looked at her and Ave saw the black blood color of his eyes.

"Just as I thought," Ave said before Charlie sent her sprawling across the ring and into the railing. Ave hit the ground and pulled herself up just in time to get kicked through the railing and skip across the water till she hit the far wall.

"He's so fast," Negi said as Charlie flew across the water and rammed Ave further into the wall, shaking the stands above and making some of the guard rails break.

"He's too close to the crowd," Kaede said then watched as a blur shot across the ring. Ave landed on her shoulder and slid to a stop as Charlie jumped out of the crevice and landed in the ring.

"Three years ago you didn't stand a chance, and now after one pactio you can actually hit me," Ave said then wiped the blood she felt running off of her chin, "And you make me bleed. You're the first person to ever make me bleed."

"The person you fought three years ago is no longer here," Charlie said in a voice much deeper than his own, then charged Ave again. Ave blocked his punch then countered with her own, making Charlie slid back to the end of the ring.

"I see that jinx I gave was finally taken care of. Only my love Igan has ever been a challenge to me, and he'll be here in mere hours. I'll finally be reunited with him," Ave said then smiled just thinking about him.

"Igan?" Eva asked then began to think on that.

"Demon names are backwards right, Igan backwards. N-A-G-I, Nagi...Nagi Springfield's opposite?" Nodoka asked Yue who shrugged.

"That could be bad," Yue said, "A person who's evil, and equal in strength as the thousand master."

"But were could she get that much energy from," Eva asked herself, "No one here is that strong, not even combined."

"How much time does he have on that contract?" Nodoka asked, since she was tired of the scary Charlie.

"Umm, it ended thirty seconds ago...this could be bad," Eva said while she watched Charlie continue to attack Ave relentlessly with death in his eyes.

"Why isn't he back to normal?" Yue asked.

"Beats the hell out of me. Those voices did a real number on him," Eva said as Charlie began to chant a spell, "Watch out!" Eva jumped from the railing and out of the blast rang, and Negi pulled Nodoka away. Yue tripped as Charlie released the spell at Ave who simply moved. Now it was moving straight for Yue.

"Charlie!" Yue shouted and covered her face with her arms. Not like it would do any good.

"Yue!" Nodoka shouted while Negi tried to run in, but was grabbed by Kaede.

"You can't block that!" Kaede shouted, "It'll kill both of you!"

Charlie looked across the arena and saw Yue on the ground, seconds from death. Suddenly, the darkness left his eyes and he was himself again.

"Yue!" Charlie shouted teleported in from of the spell, and knocked it straight into the air where it exploded away from where it would do harm. Yue realized she wasn't dead, then opened her eyes and looked in front of her. Charlie looked at her, then smiled.

"Charlie?" Yue asked. Charlie let himself drift back into the ring where he touched down and looked to Ave.

"Impressive save, shame, I was hoping you'd do the killing this time," Ave said with a devilish grin and giggled.

"He took over again," Eva said like she was disappointed.

"He almost killed her," Nodoka said then watched Charlie standing against Ave.

"I'm fine," Yue said then pulled herself off of the ground and brushed herself off.

"The fights over, now it's up to Ave to decide how long she wants to drag it on for," Eva said then sat back down on the railings. Ave shot across the ring and spiked Charlie straight into the water with a splash that got the audience wet. "And obviously not very long."

"Out of energy huh?" Ave asked with a chuckle then felt a strange presence behind her.

"Not quite," Charlie said from behind her. Ave quickly turned around and a moment later was slamming into the guard rail.

"What, your contract is over," Ave said then jumped back into the ring, "You shouldn't be this strong anymore, without that dark influence you're powerless."

"I guess not," Charlie said then smiled.

"I underestimated him, he has a little leverage now," Eva said with a smile, "Makes things interesting."

"How is he still at her level?" Negi asked.

"He isn't, but he's a hell of a lot stronger than I thought he was. He'll lose but he'll make it worth the watch," Eva said then stretched and leaned against an invisible wall behind her to get more comfortable.

Ave disappeared and reappeared behind Charlie with her foot drawn back to kick him in the head. Charlie lifted his arm around his head and blocked the shot, then countered, barely missing her as she dropped under his blow. Charlie charged and swung, hitting the air as she dodged, then blocked his next swing. Ave countered with a kicked to his side that was knocked away and countered with a shot to her stomach that knocked her back a few feet. Taking advantage of her momentary vulnerability Charlie extended his foot back and punted her across the ring and under the railings straight into the water.

"Is he winning?" Nodoka asked.

"Not losing yet," Eva answering.

Ave bursted out of the water like a geyser and head butted Charlie in the chest. His body recoiled from the collision and broke through the rails, a pillar, then finally the far wall to add another dent. The direction of the dust and debris marked his route across the arena and began to settle after ten seconds. Charlie was seen in the crevice of the wall, his body twitching as it tried to move. After a moment he regained function of his body and jumped out of the crevice only to get hit into the water the second he was over it.

Ave quickly recited a spell and aimed her palms at the water. In an instant it froze over a foot thick as Charlie smashed against it trying to break through.

"This certainly makes things interesting," Eva said then stood up on the railings to get a better look.

Charlie tried everything he could to break the ice, but could barely even dent it. Ave smiled and laughed as she waved at him as he drowned. Charlie shot a spell at the ice that made it vibrate, but not crack as he hoped. Ave mockingly waved one last time then went to stand in the center of the ring to claim her victory.

"He's going to drown!" Yue said and tried to climb over the railing to help him.

"You can't jump in, and besides, you couldn't dent the ice if you wanted to," Eva said then pushed Yue back onto the stands, "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Yue asked.

"I felt it," Negi said then looked at the center of the ring as Ave began to look around to, "She felt it to."

Suddenly debris shot up from the center of the ring. Ave flew over the top of the dust and rocks, and Charlie appeared above her. Charlie shot her straight back to the ice where she slammed down and slid into a pillar. Charlie crushed her against the pillar, breaking it down on top of her. A moment after the pillar fell Ave knocked Charlie back into the ring, bouncing over the hole he made to free himself from the ice.

"I gotta hand it to you, I guess my ice is harder than the rocks," Ave said then looked at the hole dug in a matter of seconds. Ave snapped her fingers and the ice thawed, the water crashing like waves from the sudden change of matter.

"I've had enough you," Ave said as Charlie was still catching his breath the water. Charlie charged her jumped into the air to strike her down. When he was a foot away Ave finished her non verbal spell then shot it at Charlie, blowing it straight through his chest. Charlie lost his breath as he flew backwards and crashed into the water.

"Now can I jump in!" Yue shouted at Eva.

"By all means, he'll die for sure if you don't," Eva said as Yue jumped into the water after him. Yue felt the chilling cold of the water hit her skin and sting her eyes as she scanned the water for Charlie she saw his body slowly sinking and began to kick her feet after him. In a matter of seconds she reached him and started to haul him up, but he was too heavy for her.

Yue heard a splash from above and saw Kaede in the water. Kaede grabbed his other arm and easily began to pull him to the surface. When Charlie's head reached the surface Negi, Asuna, Konoka, Nodoka, Kei, and Kotaro were in the ring ready to help him.

"Take him," Kaede said then handed his body up to the others. Asuna and Negi dragged him onto the ring and checked his breathing his Konoka.

"He's not dead yet, Konoka," Asuna said so she'd heal him.

"I'm trying, the wound is too bad," Konoka said as she squinted her eyes shut from the strain, "I can't do it."

"Let him die," Ave said with a smile. Everyone ignored her as Konoka placed her hand directly on his chest to see if that made a difference.

"Charlie, don't die!" Yue shouted at him as she looked over his face, her hair dripping wet with small drops dripping off of her nose onto his. Charlie's eyes twitched as he slowly opened them.

"Noelle?" Charlie asked Yue who shook her head.

"No, it's Yue," Yue said to him then grabbed his hand, "Come on, don't give up."

"I can't do it," Konoka said in tears since her powers couldn't save someone.

"Negi, use your card to borrow Konoka's power. You can concentrate it faster and stronger than she can. Do it," Eva said to Negi who pulled out Konoka's card and closed his eyes. The card lit up and he placed his hand on Charlie's chest on top of Konoka's. Charlie gasped from air as his wound healed.

Charlie coughed as he could suddenly breathe again. He rolled over and tried to pull himself up. Everyone pushed him to his back and told him to stay put before he finally just passed out.

* * *

"Noelle?" Charlie said to himself as he slowly regained consciousness. Charlie looked at the lights above him and saw blackness from the window. It was already night somehow.

"Charlie?" Yue said from a chair to his right.

"I just realized, not your hair or your eyes, but you have a very similar facial complexity to what Noelle had. I remember I saw you before I passed out. I didn't call you Noelle did I? Charlie asked.

"You did, you heard her right, she was one of the voices," Yue said to him as he tried to climb out of bed, "Don't leave bed."

"I did, and shut up, I'm fine," Charlie said then felt his chest and the difficulty it was to breathe.

"You had a hole the size of your fist in your chest. Luckily it missed your heart or you'd be dead."

"Shame for us she has bad aim," Eva said from the door and walked it, "Nice show, by the way."

"Thanks, now we need to figure out why she's here. The tournament isn't it, she couldn't get enough strength to summon whoever she is if it was that easy. Maybe she was just weakening us," Charlie suggested.

"What do you mean?" Eva asked.

"She couldn't take us all at once, so she needed to divide and conquer. The tournament. It's prefect, we take out each other and she hospitalizes our allies. Thankfully she doesn't know about Konoka's powers." Charlie said since everyone she took out was now up and walking.

"She did," Yue said, "Not to long after you passed out, she did something to Konoka, and Setsuna attacked her, got leveled again and we haven't seen her since," Yue said then checked her watch.

"It's almost midnight," Yue said then looked at the world tree, "The magic is reaching it's peak."

"Magical peak...who's at the tree?" Charlie asked.

"Well, Mana is sniping confessioners like every year," Yue said with a shrug, "Why?"

"That's why she's here, gather who you can and get to the world tree, I know how she can get the energy," Charlie said then ran out of the room. Eva caught on a moment later.

"How did that slip by me, clever bitch," Eva said then vanished from the room.

"Negi," Yue said as she touched her card to her head, "We have a problem."


	20. Save the trees

Charlie ran through the streets of Mahora toward the world tree. Eva flew on her broom and blew past him, and stopped to wait for him at the stairs.

"I can't believe I didn't think about the tree as her source of energy," Eva said as Charlie finally caught up.

"It's still glowing, we still have time, where's everyone else?" Charlie asked then looked behind him.

"They're coming," Eva said then lay back on her broom and floated above the stairs.

"They better hurry, we need anyone we can get," Charlie said then began to run up the stairs.

"I hope you don't plan on fighting her without reinforcements," Eva said then looked down at him.

"I can at least stall her," Charlie said.

"She could level you in seconds," Eva said then hopped down from her broom, "Shall we then?"

"If I punch you on accident because I confuse you two, don't hate me," Charlie said.

"Don't worry, I'll just kill you," Eva said then began to walk up with him.

They arrived at the top of the stairs to see the plaza was empty. It was lite dimly by the lights around and the faint sounds of the festival could be heard from every direction from every event.

"No one's here yet," Eva said then looked around for any moment.

"Mana, where every you are, if you can hear me, come down. This isn't a confession, don't shoot me!" Charlie shouted into the air and waited for a reply. Eva shook her head in annoyance and waited for something to happen.

"Looking for her," Ave said from a building next to them and dropped Mana down. Charlie ran and caught her before she hit the ground and then placed her against the wall.

"Mana, say something," Charlie said then checked her condition. Nothing seemed wrong, but she wasn't responding.

"You're wasting your breath," Ave said then floated down the ground, and touched down gracefully. She was in her red dress again that stopped at her lower shins. Charlie left Mana where she was and stood up to face her.

"How many times do I have to kill you?" Ave asked Charlie who just stared her down.

"Maybe I'm a cat, nine lives," Charlie said with a smile.

"Funny," Ave said then faced the tree, "So, you finally caught on. I was hoping someone would. Acquiring this much energy without a fight wouldn't be worth it."

"Who is Igan?" Charlie asked and Ave turned around.

"My love," Ave said then smiled and placed her hands to her chest, "Years ago he broke through the barrier. He cause a war in the magical world, that was ended by his opposite. Years later, the two confronted each other and his opposite knew neither would defeat the other. They were perfect matches. So he sealed them both in another dimension. With enough power, I will break that seal, and free Igan."

"Will that free his opposite?" Charlie asked.

"Possibly," Ave said and then looked at Eva, "I think she'd want that to happen."

"What?" Charlie asked then looked at Eva.

"That's why he never came back," Eva said then looked at her, "Will it free him."

"I don't know." Ave answered.

"Yes you do dammit! Will it free him? Will Nagi come back?" Eva asked then looked at Ave.

"Yes," Ave said. Eva looked at the ground then at the tree.

"Do it then," Eva said then gestured for the tree.

"Eva no," Charlie said then charged Ave. Eva knocked Charlie away and Charlie skidded across the ground and crashed through an stone bench and rolled down one of the set of stairs.

"Thank you, but I could have done that myself," Ave said then walked toward the tree and stopped in front of it.

"What are you waiting for?" Eva asked.

"Midnight," Ave said, and waited for the clock tower to strike twelve.

Charlie struggled to get to his feet and managed to flip off of his back and get to his stomach. A hand grabbed his and he looked up and saw Yue.

"What happened?" Yue asked.

"Eva," Charlie grunted out and was helped to a sitting position., "Ave told Eva if she freed Igan, Nagi would be freed as well. I tried to attack Ave, but Eva laid me out. Mana is out too," Charlie said and saw more people running to help.

"Stay here, we'll take care of this," Yue said then helped him to his feet and carried him down the steps. They met up with Negi, Asuna, Nodoka, Kaede, Ku, Kotaro, Takahata, Chisame, Haruka, Mei and a few more teachers.

"Why am I here, I can't help?" Chisame complained.

"Then help him," Yue said then handed off Charlie to Chisame.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Suddenly the echoing a sound of a bell filled the plaza. Another bell rang and Charlie looked up the stairs.

"It's midnight."

* * *

"Soon my love," Ave said then stepped forward and touched the tree. The tree's glow began to dim and Ave lit up.

"Master," Negi said as he reached the top of the stairs. Eva turned her head and stood in between Negi, his partners, and Ave.

Negi took one step and Eva appeared in front of him and back handed him. Negi fell back down a few stairs but managed to keep his footing.

"No one take another step," Eva said then stared everyone down.

"Why are you doing this?" Negi asked as he rubbed his face.

"If you let her do this Negi, your father will come back," Eva said then looked at his reaction. He wanted that more than anything in the world. He lowered his staff and looked at his feet. However, Negi had seen the repercussions of seeking someone who didn't wish to be found.

"I don't care," Negi said then walked back to the stairs, "I've spent my entire life looking for him. I've nearly killed my students looking for him over and over again. He's not more important than their lives. Ave threatens my students and now you do to. I'm sorry master, but you are my enemy again."

"So be it," Eva said then charged Negi, grabbed him and taking off into the air with him.

"Negi!" Asuna shouted then jumped after them.

"Stop her," Takahata said then reached the top of the stairs and fired a Iai-ken shot at her. The blast hit Ave in her side and made her wobble, but she didn't let the tree go.

Ave looked at Takahata and shot a nonverbal magic arrow at him, sending him down across the plaza and into crashing through the wall of a building.

Kotaro, Kaede, and Ku charge head on and had to split as seeking arrows began to chase them. Ku and Kaede ran toward each other and made their arrows crash into each other, but Kotaro couldn't out run his and was hit in midair as he kicked off of a building. He hit the stairs and rolled all the way down as Negi crashed to the ground, rocking the entire area.

Asuna swung her sword as Eva who easily dodged it and countered, sending Asuna down next to Negi. They both got to their feet and shot into the air together. Eva was ready to fight, before a gunshot was heard and she was hit in the back by a magic bullet. It didn't do much damage but it gave Negi his chance to ran straight into Eva's stomach, knocking her further into the air. Before she started to fall Asuna was above her, and knocked her straight back down with the blunt end of the sword. Before she could be happy with the hit, Chachamaru gave her a shot to the face and sent her to the wall of a building, but landed on her feet on the ground below.

"I almost forgot Chachamaru only fights for Eva," Asuna said then felt the blood dripping out of her lip.

Mana landed next to Asuna and kicked off of the wall and into the air as Chachamaru chased her.

"Wasn't she unconscious four seconds go?" Asuna asked then saw Eva getting up slowly. She was getting weaker as the tree was losing energy. Negi charged her but Eva turned around and grabbed him by his neck and slammed him into the wall.

"None of us can take Ave, but if Nagi were here we'd have more than a chance. When Igan and Nagi come, fight with your father against Igan and then fight Ave when you've dealt with him. Got it?" Eva said then let him go. Negi nodded and a moment later, Asuna drop kicked Eva in the face.

"I'm on your side!" Eva shouted then held her face.

"She's telling the truth Asuna," Negi said then looked at the tree getting less and less illuminated. Next to them on the same wall Mana crash into it and held her gun up to shoot Chachamaru. Chachamaru was ready to strike before Eva stepped in.

"Stand down," Eva said, and Chachamaru nodded and walked over to her.

"What's going on?" Mana asked, but never lowered her gun to Chachamaru.

"Put it away," Asuna said then looked at Eva.

"In a few minutes, we'll only have two targets, Negi, Nagi and I will fight Igan, everyone else get Ave."

Negi told his partners using the cards and everyone stood around the plaza waiting for the world tree to die.

* * *

Everyone watched as the world tree stopped glowing. The leaves turned black and then trees trunk and branches began to look like ash. Ave let the tree go and turned around and faced everyone. Kotaro was being crutched by Ku, and Charlie was walking back up the stairs with Chisame trailing behind him trying to make him stop.

"You can barely walk, you need to stop," Chisame said then stepped in front of him again.

"I've told you to move," Charlie said then tried pushing her out of the way. Chisame tried to push him back but Charlie just sighed and punched her in the stomach. Chisame grabbed her gut and fell to her knees and rolled over and tried not to cry or pass out.

"Sorry about that," Charlie said then continued to limp up the stairs.

"So many of you want to die, amusing," Ave said then looked up at the withered and dead tree, "Time for the finale."

Ave concentrated her newly acquired energy and began to chant. The wind picked up around her, and everyone was almost blown back. Yue and Nodoka had to be caught by Negi and Kaede before the began to roll down the stairs. Everyone's hair lifted up and back. The first lamp keeping light to the plaza shattered, and suddenly, they all shattered in sequence. It was dark, and something appeared above Ave.

It was a dark light, the size of a pinprick. The wind of shooting out of it, and got faster and faster as it opened wider and wider. Soon it was the size of a hoolahoop, and kept growing till a grown man could easily walk out of it. The wind suddenly stopped and everyone's hair dropped down.

A hand broke through the hole and it's arm followed. The arm trailed all the way out, till a man crawled out with pale white skin and raven black hair. Besides the general differences, Negi noticed he looked like the thousand master. Like his own father. He had a grey cloak on, that stood straight down, his blood red eyes visible from under the hood.

"Igan," Ave said as Igan stepped out and looked at everything and everyone. He locked eyes with Ave and smiled.

"Enilegnave, I was wondering when you'd free me," Igan said with a extremely lighter voice than anyone would expect. Ave walked over to him and stopped, wanting him to kneel down to kiss her for the first time in years.

"Are you going to kiss me?" Ave asked.

"You know I much rather prefer you as a woman than as a girl. You're only cute as a girl, you're beautiful as woman," Igan said then placed his hand on her head.

"You know I prefer the freedom in a child's body," Ave said then held his hand.

"Please, I won't kiss you otherwise," Igan said, making Ave sigh and close her eyes. Her body began to glow and she suddenly began to grow. She was a little less than his height in seconds, breasts appeared, her hips widened, her hair grew to the back of her waist and she was wearing the same dress that changed as well.

"Much better," Igan said then kissed her as passionately as a demon could kiss another demon. Once they were done they looked at everyone else, and Eva looked at Ave.

"Where's Nagi!" Eva shouted.

"Oops," Ave said then showed her fingers where crossed.

"Nagi, my opposite, the one who stuck me in that hell hole. If it didn't kill me too I'd kill him," Igan said and began to count, "What are their names?"

"There names are," Ave said then listed them off, "Negi Springfield, Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia," Ave said as she pointed as Asuna.

"What?" Asuna asked, wondering if that really was her name, and how she knew.

"Your opposite is quite the demon. She's royalty in our dimension. Anusa Anirepsev Aisanatoeht Aihsufoehtne," Ave said.

"That's a mouth full," Asuna said annoyed with the backward name stuff.

"Ku Fei, Kaede Nagase, Kotaro Inugami, Mana Tatsumiya, Nodoka Miyazaki, Yue Ayase, Haruna Saotome, Charlie Nathan, Chisame Hasegawa, Takamichi Takahata, Mr. Akashi, Gandolfini, and Mei Sakura," Ave finished as Igan nodded and smiled, "These odds seem so unfair, I say we even them out some."

Igan began to focus and suddenly a pinprick of black light appeared in front of everyone. Everyone took a step back watched as the light got wider. Soon they were as big as the one Igan came through, that was still hanging in the air.

"What's going on," Negi asked as he watched the light get bigger.

"If I'm right, everyone's opposite is breaking through," Eva said then watched Igen crawl out of the hole and look at Negi with his red eyes covered by his black hair.

"Yue," Nodoka asked as Akodon crawled out and smiled at her. Nodoka began to run away as her opposite laughed and began to chase her and fire spells in mid stride.

"Scatter!" Takahata shouted and ran away from his portal. Everyone else ran as the opposite climbed out and looked at each other. They had never been to earth before, seemed lovely so far.

"Why did you summon me, I'm useless?" Emasihc asked.

"Don't talk back, go out and remove your opposites from combat. Remember, killing them is killing yourself," Igan nodded and everyone began to search for their opposites. Chisame was woken up by her opposite and smacked in the face.

"What the hell!" Chisame shouted and looked around, "Whoa, okay, can we settle this some other way?"


End file.
